


Might Get To Die

by ArtiTheRat, DivergentMage



Series: Revenge ‘Verse [1]
Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden, Magisterium Series - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Genre: Both Anastasias are the same person, Calron is unestablished but endgame, F/F, Gen, Gratituous Violence, Hallucinations, Heavily Implied Past Alastine, Hey remember that mild angst tag, I lied, Jasper's totally fourth wheeling, M/M, Mild Angst, More character tags and other tags will be added as we go on, Oh and the Core Four are adults here, We shoved together their backstory, With an actual plot, and it’s set at the beginning of the Silver Mask, but whatevs, cinnamon roll Aaron but also dark!Aaron, damn okay, do I know how that’s supposed to work, hmmmm maybe a prequel?, honestly this is an actual story, i know I already have another in the works, like there’s a lot but it’s not graphic so-, major angst, nope - Freeform, only partially adhering to canon, yes Aaron is alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27592151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtiTheRat/pseuds/ArtiTheRat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivergentMage/pseuds/DivergentMage
Summary: Anastasia Furan was cold, ruthless. She didn't get attachments, right?Wrong.But then when things go wrong, as they inevitably do, she reinvents herself, a new face, a new identity, a new goal. Revenge on Nero, from behind a new mask. Anastasia Tarquin.This is set at the beginning of the Silver Mask, both Anastasias are the same person, the Core Four are adults, and I think that's pretty much it. Oh and Aaron is alive. Yay!This is in fact the HIVE and Magisterium crossover that no one asked for.
Relationships: Callum Hunt & Aaron Stewart, Callum Hunt/Aaron Stewart, Jasper deWinter & Tamara Rajavi, Laura Brand & Shelby Trinity, Laura Brand/Lucia Sinistre | Lucy Dexter, Otto Malpense & Shelby Trinity, Wing Fanchu & Otto Malpense
Series: Revenge ‘Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038918
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Callum here, so I wasn't done with the Series before helping with the writing so there's a character who should be dead but still appears in the fic. We've decided that instead of removing all that we're pulling some bullshit. We may steer away from canon but idk  
> And this kids is why you always finish a series if you wanna stick to canon

Anastasia dipped her pen into the inkpot and signed off the letter with a flourish. She sealed it and tossed it to her snake-like air elemental.

“Quickly, to Joseph.” And the elemental was gone faster than she could see. She smirked and sat back smugly.  _ Oh, they will never see it coming in time.  _ She was going to make Nero pay for what he had done to her. To her family.

To Elena.

* * *

“She's gone mad in her quest for revenge.”

“We chose not to tell you because we knew that it would jeopardize the mission.”

“Is that all this is to you? Just another mission? Don't you know what Anastasia’s done? To us, to _you_.”

"Of course I know, ” she said bitterly. "Better than anyone," Raven said.


	2. Prison Break!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess they’re breaking Call out of prison! Yay incompetent mages.

Tamara threw another fireball. This was actually kind of fun, that is, if she wasn’t thinking about how they would all be landed in jail if her plan didn’t succeed. Well, at least that would be a short trip seeing as they were currently trying to break into said jail.

Smoke wafted off of the burning walls of the Panopticon. It was supposedly an unbreakable fortress, but it was no match for a Devoured. Ravan burned at her full power, tongues of flames clearing their path. Beside her, Aaron threw Miri at one of the guards. It was strange to see him without his magic, chaos or otherwise. She remembered how a few weeks ago, everyone had thought he was dead.

* * *

_A searing bolt of white light came out of the Alkahest, and now it was heading straight towards Aaron. It struck him in the chest, and then he fell to the ground, a slightly shocked expression on his face, like he didn't really think he would die. Tamara felt numb. Why couldn't she save him too? She faintly registered that Alex was getting away, and she probably should be doing something, like going after him, but right now she was too numb to care. Aaron was dead, and she could've saved him._

_Then the mages came. They were too late, always too late. Alma accused Call of being Constantine. Call confessed. No. She had already lost one person that night, she wasn't about to lose another. “No, ” she had said, “You_ can't _take him away, he's_ innocent!” 

_She screamed at them, he was innocent, he didn't do anything, couldn't they_ see _that the real criminal was getting away? Then Call was gone, taken away to be locked up. “One will fail, ” she whispered to herself. She had failed, she couldn't save either of them._

_Then Master Tanaka walked through the sea of mages. “I may still be able to save the boy, ” he had proclaimed. A spark of hope relighted in her chest. It wasn't over yet. She watched as Master Tanaka rubbed his palms together, the smell of ozone forming. Lightning crackled between his hands. Nervous murmurs and whispers spread through the crowd. His fingers crackled with electricity, and he slammed his palms down on Aaron’s chest. He shot up and gasped for breath. Tamara drew in a sharp breath. “Aaron?”_

_“Tamara!” He tried to push himself to his feet but stumbled. Tamara rushed over and was stopped by Master Tanaka. “He needs to be inspected.”_

_“Inspected?! He's a_ person _, not one of your_ experiments!” _They pushed her away, and she ran. Back to her room, where she could pretend that everything was still normal, that Call hadn't been taken away to the Panopticon, and that Aaron hadn't died and been shocked back to life._

* * *

_Her door clicked open. “Are you okay? I heard what happened, ” Jasper said. “I thought that maybe you might want some company after that.” Tamara looked up, her eyes were red from crying. “I can leave if you want me to-” Jasper started, but then Tamara pulled him into a hug. “Thanks, ” she rasped quietly. He carefully put his arms around her and whispered, “It’s going to be okay.”_

* * *

Tamara snapped herself out of the memory. Master Tanaka might’ve been able to bring him back, but now his magic was gone, just like Alex had said. He probably hadn't expected Aaron to come back to life though. 

“We need to find Call!” she shouted to Aaron.

* * *

Jasper and Call stumbled through the flaming ruins of the Panopticon. “Seriously?” Call started. "Of all the days you decided to visit me to complain about your non-existent love life, it had to be today? Your luck is even worse than mine!” He snorted. 

“Hey! I needed someone to talk to! It's crazy you know! We were perfect for each other!”

“Mhmm, keep telling yourself that.”

“I'm serious!”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night. You probably made pirate eyes at her too many times. And shouldn’t we be finding a way out of this mess before we burn to death?” 

“Pirate eyes?!” he shrieked indignantly. 

“Yes, now can you get us out?” Jasper sighed. He waved his hand and a chunk of flaming rock rolled away to reveal the outside. “Yay. Prison break for you.” He said sarcastically. 

“It’s not a prison break yet,” Call waved his cuffed arms. “I’m still in these _stupid_ handcuffs. Look, I know it'd probably be better if I were still locked away so I couldn't hurt anyone anymore, but I _need_ to make Alex pay for what he did to, ” he stopped. “To Aaron.”

Jasper blinked at him, first in surprise, then in realization. “Call, ” he started. 

“What.”

“Aaron, ” he paused. “Aaron is alive.”

* * *

Otto turned to his friends. “Remember, this is supposed to be a reconnaissance mission _only_.”

Shelby laughed, “Yeah yeah, investigate suspicious prison, be sneaky, yada yada yada. I also heard that there was supposed to be someone that’s an enemy of GLOVE here. And before you try to get all responsible on us, remember that train you blew up?”

Otto dropped his head in his hands. “You blow up _one_ train and then no one ever forgets it. Why do I even try?”

“Uh guys, ” Laura said, “You might want to see this. Wing, hand over the binoculars.”

“Is she shooting _fire_ out of her hands?”

* * *

Call turned to Jasper. “That's not funny.”

“I’m not lying, after they uh, carted you off to magic jail, Master Tanaka restarted his heart.”

“That's…” Call tried to look for the right word.

“Unbelievable? Crazy? Yeah, it was practically a miracle.”

“You better not be lying to me.”

“I’m not, do you think it’s a coincidence that I'm here today? This was planned. Tamara and Aaron are outside making a distraction large enough for us to escape. They even got Ravan.”

Call sort of smirked, “They won’t know what even hit them.” He walked out of the opening in the wall and spotted a tuft of bright blond hair. “Aaron?”

* * *

A familiar voice that he hadn't heard in a long time called out to him. He turned his head, “Call?” They rushed towards each other and hugged. 

“I thought you were _dead!_ ” Call said indignantly. Aaron laughed sheepishly. “Well I did technically die, so I guess that fair.”

Jasper pretended to throw up in the background. Tamara threw a rock at him. “Well, I'm probably not going to die again any time soon, ” Aaron quipped.

Then the sound of a helicopter grew closer. The four of them turned around. “Tamara?” Jasper asked. “I thought you said we were taking the van.”

“We are, this is someone else.”

The door of the helicopter slid open smoothly. From the inside, a young man with white hair and a black trenchcoat stepped out. “We need to take you in.” he said, with a British accent. Then the world faded to black.


	3. Angry Blonde and Dramatic Antagonist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otto gets stabbed, Wing almost beats a child, and Alex plots the downfall of another child

“I can't believe we just kidnapped a bunch of kids.”

“We got kidnapped as kids! Oh, how the turns have tabled.” 

“Yeah but we got kidnapped for a good reason. These kids aren't bad.”

“They were breaking someone out of jail.”

“I stand corrected. But at least none of them are world famous jewel thieves.”

Otto heard the others discuss in the other room and looked over at the four kids they had taken, or rather, kidnapped. They were strange, he could give them that, but they were certainly powerful. 

There was no way he'd allow them to fall into the hands of the enemy. He did however notice it was odd that they weren't told _who_ the enemy was, usually Nero would’ve told them everything about the mission. 

The kids had been searched, but they couldn't find anything that could allow them to seemingly throw fireballs out of their hands, or move things with their mind. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary were their strange wristbands. And the fact that one of them had handcuffs on too. 

He decided to just wait for them to wake. Hopefully they weren't going to be too violent when they woke up. 

He also planned on checking on the scrawny boy's leg, as Otto noticed the kid had a slight limp, most likely an injury from the breakout attempt. A break in like that probably wouldn't have someone unharmed.

* * *

Wing had gotten tired of listening to Laura and Shelby argue back and forth, so he decided to check on Otto and the four kids. As he headed that way, he heard a loud scream from Otto. He broke into a run and soon found Otto laying on the ground with the tall blonde kid standing over him, a bloody knife clutched tightly in his hand. The boy quickly noticed Wing, but didn't attack.

"Don't get any closer o-or…" the boy stuttered. "Or I’ll kill your accomplice!".

Wing sighed. He wondered how the rest of them had missed the knife earlier in the back of his mind. It was pretty clear to him that the boy wouldn't have the resolve to actually kill Otto, but he wasn't about to take the chance. Though he was curious as to why the boy wasn't using any of the tricks that the other two had used earlier.

Wing took a careful step forward, "I understand how you feel right now. I was in a similar situation years ago, but you have to calm down. Tell me, are you not like those two?"

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

* * *

Otto winced in pain as Laura tended to his stab wound. The blonde kid, who eventually introduced himself as Aaron, stabbed him in the shoulder after waking up. He looked over at where Wing and Aaron were talking. The boy was refusing to give any information regarding their abilities. Otto admired that, but it also made him suspicious. Who knows what else they could have up their sleeves? 

Otto turned his head towards the others as he heard the scrawny boy groan. Luckily this kid was handcuffed, and wouldn't be able to attack. Otto went to walk over to the boy, but Aaron stepped in his way.

"Stay away from him!" Aaron shouted. Otto decided it would be wise to listen, he wasn't about to get stabbed again. He walked over to Wing.

"Poor kid’s probably scared, and I don't blame him," Otto said. He watched as Aaron checked to see if his friend was okay. Aaron didn't seem to notice the injury on the kids leg. 

* * *

Alex was pissed, to say the least. Joseph wouldn't get off his back because of the Alkahest situation, and now Call was gone too? It wasn't _his_ fault that his stepmom messed up. Alex hoped that little brat was rotting in a ditch somewhere. 

* * *

_"I told you time and time again that Hunt is to be left alive!" Joseph yelled._

_"We don't even need him now! I can be the new Enemy, I deserve it! He doesn't have the guts for it!" Alex snorted. He was sick of all this. He had to get revenge. Callum had killed Drew three years ago, and Alex wasn't going to let it slide._

_Joseph frowned and sighed disappointedly, pinching the bridge of his nose "Just…. Just leave. I'm tired of dealing with you, Alexander.”_

* * *

Alex paced in his room, irritated. He didn't want to go retrieve that little shit. But, that gave him an idea. Maybe this could give him a chance to get rid of that fool.

He smirked, "Get ready Callum… You won't be able to escape me a second time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Callum here! I wrote most of this and Alex did the editing. Anyways whoo whoo


	4. Kidnapping? Nah, It's For Your Own Good

Call was huddled next to Aaron in a corner of the strange looking ship. It was oddly quiet, with none of the noise usually in aircrafts. He glared at the four adults around him. He didn't trust them a single bit, and he knew they weren't the retrieval team as he was told Aaron stabbed the shorter man. 

He looked up at his friend, who was staring at the Asian guy. This guy seemed scarier than the other three, with his neutral expression and the scar across the bridge of his nose. He looked like he could snap them with no hesitation, but judging by the fact they're still alive, Call felt as if that wasn't his intention.

He soon heard a loud yell and looked over to see Tamara leaping at the blonde woman, who barely managed to dodge. Her hands were on fire and she looked mad.

"Whoa! Otto, I think this one is a bit more aggressive than the boys." The short haired scottish lady said to the shorter man.

“Watch the hair!” the Valley girl looking one shrieked.

Call watched as the scar-faced man twisted Tamara's arms behind her back. She squealed in pain and tried to squirm out to the hold, and when she realized it wasn’t working, she stopped and closed her eyes. 

“Uh, what is she doing?”

"Relax Otto. Seems she calmed do-" the scar faced man was cut off as her hands started sparking fire. He stumbled back quickly as the place he had just been in lit up in a column of fire. 

The man who was referred to as Otto let out a yell, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?!"

The Scottish girl looked at Otto, "I don't think aggressive is the right word now"

"You mean dangerous, correct?" The man who was almost fried scoffed. “Where did the fire even come from?”

Call listened to the four adults argue, not even noticing Tamara running at him. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” She said as she squeezed him tightly. Call smiled, he had missed her too. “Not to be ungrateful, but what are we doing here? Also I _still_ have these stupid cuffs on. 

"I can get those" the blonde girl that was assaulted spoke up.

"No, don't take them off, Shelby. They’re probably on there for a good reason. See the weird markings on the side? Wing, can you break the chain?" Otto looked at the other man, who nodded in response. Shelby frowned, "Oh come onnnnn, he can't be as bad as that girl!"

* * *

Otto had been called up to the cockpit while Wing worked on the cuffs, "What is it?"

"A video call. Probably from Nero or Raven."

Otto sighed and took the call, "Heyy?"

"Otto, care explain to me why the prison that you were supposed to be doing recon on was set on fire?" an angry Russian voice spoke.

"Look when we got there it was already on fire. Don't blame us. Blame three magic kids and a child with a knife".

"Don't make up stories, Malpense".

"I'm really not, they're in the hanger right now.”

Raven sighed, “This was _not_ supposed to happen. That prison isn't just any prison, it's supposed to hold people who have magic, they call themselves mages.”

“I’m sorry, what? You mean that the girl with the fire has actual magic?”

“You were sent there to see if there was anything suspicious going on, but clearly we are beyond that point now. I want you to go to the safehouse in Vermont, I'll meet you there.”

“By the way, one of the kids has handcuffs with weird markings on it, should we take it off?”

Raven’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then her usual stoic composure returned. “No, keep them on.”

“Alright, I guess we're meeting you at the safehouse.”

* * *

Alastair was freaking out, at least on the inside. He was recently told about the explosion at the Panopticon and no one told him if his son made it out alive or not. He was sitting on the couch with Havoc laying nearby. As much as he didn't want the wolf, Alastair was glad to have company at the moment, even if said company had breath that smelled like hotdog water.

Alastair sighed, which caught the large wolf's attention. Not too long after, Alastair was almost crushed by the large, cuddly wolf, "HAVOC- GAH- OFF- DOWN BOY!". The wolf refused to listen and got comfortable where he was. Alastair soon accepted his fate of being a temporary dog bed.

"You just don't like listening, huh bud." he struggled to say under the weight of the wolf. Havoc sort of reminded him of Constantine’s wolf. It was slightly comforting, but it also made him sad. Just then, Havoc leapt off of him and began pawing at the door.

“I’ve already walked you today,” he sighed. “Where are you going?”

Havoc continued barking at the door. Alastair stood up and peered through the window. “There's nothing there”. Alastair looked down at the wolf, who let out a small whine. Maybe, just maybe, he knew something?

* * *

Alex was ready to go hunt down that little clown. He was able to convince Joseph to go alone. What a fucking idiot. All of them are fucking idiots. Alex had to think of a cover up story. Maybe a freak accident? Or maybe a bunch of elementals got to him? But either way, Hunt was done for. Soon, he'll be able to avenge Drew. He couldn't wait to get this over with.

* * *

The Shroud silently descended to the landing pad. They were now quite literally in the middle of nowhere. No one would be able to find them here.

Otto stepped out of the Shroud and looked around. The safehouse was still much like when he had first seen it. There was an unassuming little cabin surrounded by the woods, but underneath it, there was a giant bunker. 

When Call saw the house he laughed. “For a bunch of kidnappers, you're not very good at it. Are you seriously expecting all eight of us to fit in that tiny cabin?” Then a rather intimidating woman stepped out of it, along with a cat.

“Oh goodie, _nine_ of us.”

“And a cat.”

“We're not kidnappers, this is for your own good. You're too dangerous to have us let running around everywhere.”

The Asian boy, who the other kids either called fuckface or Jasper, scoffed " _I'm_ not dangerous! It's those three you have to worry about!”

“Nice try kid, you were levitating rocks with your mind.”

"Tch. At least I didn't try to burn anyone! I'm well behaved! You gotta believe me!"

Raven glared. “Quit messing around, the longer we’re out, the more likely that someone’s going to spot us.” 

“You said that you were going to tell us something, ” Otto reminded her.

Raven fixed him with a glare.

Call stepped forward. "They're right, we aren't… the most well behaved. And I for one, do not want to be caught out here with the Assembly searching for us". Aaron and the girl who refused to give her name nodded, and soon Jasper nodded as well.

Then Jasper snickered, “You mean the _Ass_ embly.”

"Well then," Otto said, "let's get your four inside. Maybe then we can give proper introductions.”


	5. Introductions and More Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well I guess we finally got this one out. This was an utter pain to write, and honestly, it's sort of boring. Welp, at least no one gets stabbed.

Otto plopped down on the ground and amusedly watched as the kids eyed them suspiciously. He remembered back to when he was first at HIVE, his friends were all like that. The kids sat down on the floor and looked at him expectantly. 

“So, ” Jasper ventured. “You said something about this being ‘for our own good’? And who are you anyway?”

“Well, that’s…” Otto trailed off. “A really long story.”

“We work for an organization called GLOVE, and our objective is keeping order in the world, using slightly, ah, unorthodox ways.”

“Huh. So how do we know that you're not the bad guys?”

“Well, we might not be the good guys, but we're not entirely bad either. We're sort of a gray area. That's why we've been keeping an eye on the Panopticon lately, ” Shelby explained.

“So how do you guys do what you do?” Otto asked. “You know, the whole, ” he waved his hands around. “The fire thing.”

“We're not telling-” the girl said before she was cut off by Raven.

“I can answer that,” Raven said. “It’s magic. GLOVE used to keep in contact with a breakaway group of mages, until quite a while ago, when they seemingly disappeared. We don't know what's happened since. And those handcuffs, they repress magic.”

The girl glared at Raven. _She's got guts_ , Otto thought to himself bemusedly. “That's not your place to tell, we're the ones with magic.”

“Actually, it is, ” Raven said. “We were looking into your magic jail because a former member of GLOVE was looking for someone called a Makar there.”

Call’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, almost imperceptible. _It had to be Anastasia_ , he thought to himself. Who else could it possibly be?

“Until then,” Raven continued. “ We need to keep you here, or at least Callum Hunt.”

* * *

Aaron stood up and looked her in the eye. “No! How do we know that you’re not working with Master Joseph! You said that you had been keeping contact with the mages, how do we know that you’re not going to just turn us over?” He shouted. 

“Who the fuck is Master Joseph?!” Otto asked bewilderedly. “Okay, care to fill us in?”

The girl in braids sighed. “Fine. Master Joseph was Constantine’s mentor-”

“Who’s Constantine?”

Tamara rolled her eyes. “You guys really don’t know anything do you?” She sighed again. “Okay, well, long story short, Constantine was a Makar that accidentally killed his brother, and then he wanted to bring him back from the dead. He also managed to cause a war in the process, and the whole thing was because Master Joseph had been manipulating him. Got that? No? Well we’re moving on.”

“You guys can bring people back from the dead?” Laura asked.

“Well, technically no,” Aaron said. “I’ve sort of have experience with that.”

“Why can’t you use magic?” Otto asked bluntly. “I mean, I assume you can’t because you haven’t done any so far.”

“That’s what getting murdered does to someone,” he deadpanned, looking Otto in the eye.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

* * *

Raven looked towards Callum Hunt. She had some records on him, but not a lot. He, like the others, disappeared off the map when they were twelve, and nobody knew where they had gone. Tamara, however, didn’t even seem to have records of her existence. 

However, she had heard about an incident back a few years ago when they had destroyed an entire island. From the footage, it looked like this thing, blacker than black had washed over the island, and when it disappeared, the island and everything on it was gone.

She walked over to Callum, who was petting Lina. The small black kitten purred, enjoying the attention.

"I used to have a wolf," Callum said, not looking away from Raven, "Well, not used to… well maybe. I doubt I'll see him ever again…. I hope Dad takes good care of him.” Raven frowned. She looked at his separated cuffs suspiciously and wondered what he could’ve done.

"I'm sure your father is taking great care of your pet wolf," she said in an attempt to be friendly. 

"You don't know my dad. He probably dumped Havoc off somewhere after hearing about the explosion.”

* * *

Alastair had no idea where to search, but something told him his son was still alive, and he was hoping it was true. He looked at Havoc, who sat in the passenger seat with his head out the window.

Alastair had one stop to make first. He was going to see an old friend, one who was good at making weapons and liked to collect maps. Alastair hadn't talked to anyone that he used to know since after the war. Even though this isn't meant to be a friendly visit, Alastair was looking forward to seeing a familiar face.

* * *

Wren Michaels stood on his porch, waiting. He had gotten a call from an old friend he hadn't spoken to in years. Knowing the way Alastair worked, this wasn't going to be a casual visit. Something was wrong, and he needed Wren’s help.

Wren felt bad for the guy. Alastair wasn't the same after his wife was killed. Wren knew he would've completely isolated himself if he didn't have a son to take care of. After a few minutes, Wren saw a Rolls Royce Phantom pull into the driveway, a large wolf sticking its head out the window.

Wren couldn't help but smile, "good to see you still doing well, Al.”

"You too, Wren".

"How's the boy? It's been quite a few years since I last saw the both of you.”

Alastair frowned, "You don't know?".

"Know what?"

"Wren, the secret was revealed, and they thought that he had tried to kill the Makar. He was sent to the Panopticon."

Wren fell silent. The Panopticon had been destroyed yesterday. The news was spreading like wildfire. Rumor was that someone had broken out, and the rest of the prisoners had either been taken back, run off, or died.

"I know that look Wren. I _know_ he's alive, I can feel it. I wouldn't have come to see you if I thought he was dead.”

"So, what is it you need?" Wren asked with a grin, though there was still some lingering doubt. It felt good to be able to help again.

* * *

Laura typed away at her laptop. Everyone else was currently asleep, and she was glad. She was sick of that deWinter kid always asking her questions when she tried to work. She wanted to get more information on the four, about who or what they were. They had given them more information to work with, but not a lot on who they were. Laura looked over at where the kids were. They were huddled up in a corner, Lina resting on Jasper's face. Laura chuckled and went back to work.

After a while, Laura came across another file, possibly related to the mysterious kids.

"Alexander Strike…" she muttered to herself. "I wonder who he could be?”


	6. Bonding Moments? In This Bunker? More Likely Than You Think

The next morning, Call decided to explore the bunker, seeing as he was probably going to be staying for a while. He had found the Scottish girl, who had introduced herself as Laura, asleep on the floor next to her laptop. Call attempted to peek at the contents but it must've died at some point. He gave up and decided to look elsewhere.

He wandered into another room and found Raven sitting at a table, looking through documents. He made a beeline towards the coffeemaker.

"You're up early, Hunt." she said, not looking away from the papers in front of her.

"Just Callum is fine.”

"I heard the other three refer to you as Call.”

"Only my friends get to call me that," he snapped. "And you’re definitely not my friend.”

Raven finally looked at him, "I’m not here to be your friend, I’m here to protect you under orders. I noticed you were limping, were you injured?”

"No, that happened when I was younger." He said, not revealing anymore. He wasn't about to tell a complete stranger his entire past. He shuffled away with his coffee to go see if any of the others had woken up yet.

* * *

Raven watched as the scrawny boy limped away. She understood why he didn't trust her, if she were in his place, she’d probably have the same reaction. Though, due to how dangerous she heard he was supposed to be, gaining his trust would probably be a good decision.

She had heard that many years ago, before Nero took over GLOVE, they had meddled in the affairs of magic. There had been mages with extraordinary power, and they were called Makars. Supposedly they were rare, but ever since the magic world had separated itself, information about them had grown even more rare.

As for Stewart, he certainly had a past. Jailed father, dead mother, and getting landed in juvie quite a few times. She wondered if anyone else, namely his friends, knew anything about that.

Mr. DeWinter and Ms. Rajavi seemed less dangerous, but Raven wanted to keep a close eye on the girl. She seemed almost as dangerous as the two boys. Jasper on the other hand didn't seem like much of a threat. He complained a lot, though. 

Raven determined it would be a good idea to contact Nero, and let him know about the strange kids Otto brought along. Though annoying and unexpected, the kids brought a sense of comfort. She remembered when the other four were around that age. She hoped, for the sake of whoever dealt with them, that they weren't as troublesome.

* * *

A few hours later, Laura entered the room Raven was in. Raven looked up at the worried girl. "What's wrong? Did Aaron stab Otto again?"

"No, actually. I’ve found another file that's possibly connected to those four." She said. Laura showed Raven the laptop. Raven looked at the file. 

"Alexander Strike? He’s never come up anywhere else before,” she said. “He’s probably not that important. You should probably still look into him anyway though.”

"Oh yeah, he's not important. After all, it’s not like he murdered me." a voice said from the doorway. Raven looked up to see Aaron leaning against the wall, knife in hand. The fluffy blond mess that was his hair sort of ruined the image though. Nevertheless, Laura jumped. “Agh! Where did _you_ come from?” She yelped. “How long have you been here?”

“That’s for me to know, and for you to never find out,” he said, half jokingly.

"This is the guy that killed you?" Raven asked. "Do you know anything about him?” Laura watched as the boy went over and sat down. "What do you wanna know?"

"Well," Laura started, "Does he do any magic?" Aaron gave a nod.

"Yes. He was actually quite talented and popular."

"I doubt you expected him to turn against you." Laura said as she started typing. The information about the murder may be useful for their mission. "Which is probably what he wanted.” 

“Do you ever _not_ say what you think?” Aaron said bitterly.

Laura's eyes widened. “Oh. I didn't realize I was being rude! I'm so sorry.”

“It’s okay, I guess, I’m still adjusting. I’d ask you to ask the others, but they’d probably just annoy you into a headache, being stubborn and all.” Aaron cracked a fond smile at the last sentence. “Okay, well, let’s start over. So what do you want to know?”

* * *

Jasper banged his head into the wall. He was hopelessly lost. “Argh! All the halls look _exactly_ the same! Ugh, this is like the Magisterium, but worse.”

“What’s a Magisterium?” A voice behind him asked cheerily.

Jasper jumped and turned around. Shelby hung from the vent in the ceiling smiling. “Agh! Have you been here the _entire time_?!”

“Actually, I was just hanging around the vents when I saw you looking like some poor lost schmuck.”

“Oh. Because otherwise that would be extremely creepy of you.” Jasper frowned, "Wait, why were you even in the vents anyway?"

"Old habits die hard I guess,” she said with a half-hearted shrug. “I'm this world famous jewel thief. Was, actually. I was The Wraith." She plopped down onto the floor next to him.

“So, tell me about yourself. Ever been kidnapped before?" she asked in good humor.

“If I had a nickel every time I was kidnapped, I’d have two. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice. This is actually the second time I've been kidnapped. Funny story, the first time Aaron basically threatened to kill me if I didn't go along with them.” Jasper crossed his arms. Why did she even want to know?

"Interesting group of friends you got there." She chuckled and leaned against the wall. "Kind of reminds me of my own crew actually, we all started off hating each other. Well except for Otto and Wing, those two are like two sides of the same coin.”

"Call and Aaron are the same way. Hardly see those two separated.”

“Lovebirds,” she coughed out discreetly. 

“That obvious?” He asked, amused. Maybe their group wasn't that different from them.

* * *

Tamara stared out the window disinterestedly. Being kidnapped was actually rather boring, there was nothing to do but sit around all day. At least no news was good news in this case. She sighed and lit a flame above her hand and carefully separated it into two. Tamara supposed that she could always practice her magic a little more. 

Just then, Laura walked into the room chatting loudly with someone on the phone. Tamara wondered who it was. 

“No _way_ . Tell me more! You mean those idiots actually dumped bleach and acetone together?” She paused for a second then laughed out loud. “And then they _actually sniffed_ it? Damn, I thought the Alpha Stream was supposed to be smart.”

Tamara listened to the conversation, interested. Something slightly new. She snickered a bit to herself, that'd actually be pretty funny. “Isn't that supposed to make chloroform?” She asked. She was really quite bored.

Laura looked at her and smirked a little. She covered her phone and remarked casually, “Ooh, we've got a junior villain in the making!” 

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Actually, yeah!” She quickly uncovered her phone. “Your next class is in five minutes Lucy, at this point I practically already know your schedule better than you. Hmm? Alright, bye. Have fun dealing with those little gremlins.”

“Who’s Lucy?” Tamara questioned.

“Oh, she's my girlfriend!” She said with a happy grin. 

"Oh- uh…" Tamara didn't know how to respond without making it seem awkward. “Congrats?” She went back to summonings small flames. Laura watched with interest.

"So, you can just do that? No fancy gadgets or anything?"

"Nope. No fancy gadgets, it all comes from us." Tamara responded. "You know, you guys shouldn't even know that mages exist.”

“Why not?” she asked, curious.

“Cause Master Joseph was regular and started a war, that's why," Tamara snapped.

"Sorry. I forgot how snappy you four can get. Hey speaking of you four, where did your one friend go. The really whiny guy?"

"Jasper? Who knows. Hopefully he's not pestering that scary lady." Tamara chuckled. 

Laura laughed, "Oh let's hope not. She might actually murder him.” Maybe they could be friends.

* * *

“Where did you get your knife?” Wing asked. “I've never seen anything like it before.”

“Well actually, it's not mine,” Aaron said as he turned it over in his hands. “After the whole,” he gestured vaguely, “you know. They wanted to burn everything of his. Symbolism, I suppose, that the Enemy wouldn't be coming back. But I managed to steal Miri, Semiramis, back, ” Aaron said. “Before, it was Call’s, and before, his mother. He said he wanted me to keep it, so I guess it's mine now.”

Wing wanted to take a look at the knife, but he wasn't going to risk Aaron lashing out. "Are you good in combat?"

"Well, not really. Never had to fight without magic in years until now," Aaron responded. "I could probably use training.”

"Well," Wing went over and got wooden training swords, "lucky for you, I learned from the best.” He tossed one over to Aaron, who caught it effortlessly. Aaron assumed a defensive stance.

“And who would the best be?”

“Raven of course.”

"You were trained by her? How are you not dead yet?"

"Honestly? I don't even know." Wing watched the boy. "Don't hold it like that. You'll strain your wrist. Feet a little farther apart, helps stabilize you.”

Aaron did as he was told and waited.

"Now, I want you to block my attack," Wing said. Aaron got ready. Wing moved quickly, knocking the boy down and stunning him for a few seconds. 

"Gah! I wasn't ready!" Aaron groaned.

"That won't matter in an actual fight. Now get up and try again."

Aaron stood and assumed a stance once again.

He got knocked on his ass again, and again, and again. Raven watched from the cameras, hiding a small grin.

* * *

Otto paced in one of the rooms, thinking about what Laura told him about that file. That Alex guy was dangerous, and Otto wanted to make sure he wouldn't return to finish what he started. 

Otto heard a shuffling noise and looked up to see Call peek into the room. "Your one friend is a good fighter. Caught Aaron off guard like ten times now." The boy went and sat in one of the chairs. "Also I'm uh, sorry about yesterday."

"You didn't do anything." Otto said, confused.

"Yeah, but I probably should've taken that knife from Aaron at some point." Call leaned back. He seemed troubled.

"What's wrong?" Otto asked, sitting next to the boy.

"Oh you know, the usual, being jailed for a murder I didn't commit and then getting kidnapped by a bunch of supervillains." Call said sarcastically. “You know, normal stuff.”

Otto frowned. He knew what it was like to be in this kid’s position. And from what he heard, Callum Hunt wasn't too different from him.

"I understand how you feel. Being kidnapped and taken to H.I.V.E wasn't the most pleasant experience."

"So you were forcefully taken to school too?" Call looked over. He seemed less tense.

"Yep. On the bright side, the first person I met on the way was Wing." Otto responded. He still remembered waking up in that helicopter, and the first thing he saw being another boy, Wing. 

Just then, Otto’s phone buzzed. He checked it quickly. “Raven wants us in her not so secret war room."

* * *

“What's wrong?” Wing asked. He and Aaron seemed pretty disappointed that their sparring got interrupted.

"I looked through more files, and found a connection to those Joseph and Constantine guys." Raven responded. She noticed Call stiffen, but didn't think much of it. "It would probably be best to eliminate any connection with them. To possibly weaken them."

"Well, what's his name?" Otto asked.

"His name is Alast-" Raven was cut off when Call slammed his hands on the table.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Laura looked over at the distressed boy.

"Because that's my dad, and he's the only family I have left.”


	7. Retrieval and Attack Cliffhanger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh here's an Antagonist

Alastair was on the road again. He had gotten a map and some weapons from Wren, and now it was time to go looking for his son. He looked into his rear view mirror to check on Havoc, who was laying in the back seat. 

He noticed a police car pull into the road behind him, but didn't pay much attention to it. Probably just on patrol.

Oh how wrong he was.

* * *

Wing watched the car in front of him. He could hear Otto trying to convince him to turn on the siren and flashing lights of the cop car they stole. “No way,” Wing said into the comms. “See, this is why _you_ never get picked for any stealth missions.” 

“ _Bleh, you’re no fun._ ”

“Stop it. I can somehow physically hear you pouting. Also I’m driving so don’t distract me. Last time, you almost caused a car accident, and before you say anything, it was completely your fault.”

He focused back on the silver Rolls Royce in front of him. With such an obvious car, he clearly never thought about the possibility of being tracked down. 

" _Remember, he needs to be brought back alive._ " he heard Callum say in his ear piece.

"Callum, trust me. I'll bring your father back in one piece." Wing responded. He vowed to never take a life. He had broken that promise once, but he tried his best to never kill again. “I don't kill people.”

He didn't want to think of that day. When they were trying to escape HOPE, it was a desperate situation and-

He shook his head. He had to focus on the mission.

He noticed that the car started to speed up. Wing had to make a move now before he lost his window. “Hey Otto, remember what you said about the siren?”

“ _Somehow, I am feeling the secondhand joy from this. Now I absolutely know why Nero wanted to drive a firetruck._ ”

* * *

“Is this safe?” Call asked Otto as he looked through the surveillance camera on the cop car. “This is a police car. You might get caught.”

“Safe? Well not really. Safe as life I guess,” Otto replied. “And what do you take us for? Amateurs?”

"Call," Aaron walked over to him. "You're acting as if _we_ didn't steal a car and drove it halfway across the country. Calm down, it’ll be fine.”

"You guys stole a car?" Laura looked up from her laptop. “Wait, was it two years ago?”

Call looked at her suspiciously. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

“You guys wouldn’t be connected to that tiny island that just disappeared, would you?”

“Funny story, yes actually. How did you find out?” 

“It popped up on GLOVE’s radar.”

" _He's putting up quite the chase._ " Call heard Wing say. " _Say, what is he even doing so far from your guy's home? Callum, did you say you guys lived in North Carolina?_ "

"Yeah, I did."

"What's he doing so far out?" Raven asked.

"Maybe he's looking for Call?" Jasper suggested. "I've only met Mr. Hunt once but he seems like the protective type."

"Seems like?! I stayed with them once and oh boy." Aaron said.

Call went back to watching the cameras anxiously. He hoped Wing would keep his word. "Mr. Fanchu?"

" _Yes?"_

"Please try to get him back unharmed."

* * *

Wing watched as the car in front pulled over. Seems the police act worked. Wing stepped out of the police car and approached.

The man looked at Wing, and soon realized it wasn't an officer that approached him. Before he could get away, Wing pulled out the Sleeper. "Don't take this personally." He said before firing.

" _I thought you said you WOULDN'T kill him_ " a panicked void shrieked. " _I heard something fire!_ "

"Calm down, Callum. It's a Sleeper, it only knocked him out. Once again, I don't kill."

Wing opened the door and dragged the man out. That's when he saw movement from in the car, and saw a large wolf poke its head out the door. It hopped out and trotted over to Wing and the man.

"Do you want me to bring this wolf?"

" _Havoc?! Yes! Bring him!_ " Wing heard Call squeak.

" _Wing, I sent coordinates to your blackbox_ " Raven said " _Nero's shroud will pick you up there._ "

"Got it." He'd say as he dragged the man over to the police car and hauled him into the back. He then went and opened the passenger door to let Havoc in.

He then got into the driver's side and sped off.

* * *

Nero watched as the police car came to a stop, and soon Wing stepped out.

"Hello Dr. Nero. I got the man Raven needed. Also an extra passenger."

"Alright. Let's get them in." Nero responded and signaled the crew.

He walked into the shroud, Wing in tow. He watched as some of the crew dragged a familiar looking man on board. A large wolf came trotting over to Wing. Nero chuckled.

"Seems the extra passenger grew a liking to you."

"He's friendly despite his threatening appearance."

Nero smirked a bit before doing up to the flight deck. Everything seemed to be running well. He was keen on meeting the strange kids Otto found. He hadn't seen a mage in years, not since the Mage War. He wondered how some of his old friends and their students were doing nowadays. 

"Is everything ready?" Nero asked the pilot, who nodded in response. "I accept no less."

Nero turned around to see Wing come onto the flight deck, "The passengers are secure, sir."

"Alright. Time to go. Raven is waiting." He said, before leaving the flight deck with Wing following. He looked over at the man, who was now starting to wake up. 

"Hello Mr. Hunt."

"Where the hell am I?!" The man snapped, "Where's Havoc?!"

"Your wolf is fine." Nero responded. The man stared at him, angry. Suddenly, there was a slight creaking sound, and then some of the strange weapons busted out of the container they were put in. The crewmembers barely dodged.

Nero pulled out a sleeper and shot the man point blank. The weapons clattered to the ground. Luckily, no one was killed.

"I thought the kid told you he didn't use magic?" He asked Wing.

"Not exactly. He said he doesn't use it a lot."

Nero looked at the unconscious man. He looked really familiar, but why?

* * *

Otto watched as Call paced the room. 

"Raven? Is the Shroud almost here?" Call asked.

"For the last time Hunt, I don't know. I'm sure your father and wolf are fine. Nero knows what he's doing. Trust us."

“How can I trust you when you won't even tell us who we're up against?”

"Because," Otto stood, "we don't know either."

"Bullshit."

"Call, it's fine." Tamara would say as she walked over to her friend.

"No it's not!" He snapped. Otto sighed and walked out of the room. These kids were more frustrating than he expected. Were they like this when they were younger? Probably. He supposed this was just karma.

He left the bunker area and looked out the window of the cabin, just as a Shroud shimmered into view. _About time_ , Otto thought.

He opened the door and watched as Wing approached him, a large wolf, who Otto assumed was Havoc, trotting beside him.

Otto then saw Nero talking to some of the crew. Otto went over to him, Wing following, "Hello Dr. Nero."

Nero looked over at Otto, "Ah, there you are. How has everything been?"

"The kids hadn't killed anyone so there's that. Though, the Hunt boy is close to commiting murder. Where's his father?" Just then, Otto saw a man being dragged out of the Shroud, "Ah, that answers my question."

"Let's get him inside." Nero said, and Otto nodded. He and Wing grabbed the man by the arms and guided him inside, Nero following. When they entered, they saw the kids surrounding the wolf, petting him and even giving him hugs.

The man looked over at Callum, "CALL!"

Call looked up and after a few seconds, he stood up and half-ran half-stumbled over to his father.

Otto and Wing let the man go and they watched the two. Otto was surprised the man didn't snap his son in half. 

Nero walked over. The man glared at him, "get away shit face! Don't get anywhere near us!"

"Mr. Hunt, I mean no harm."

"GET AWAY." the man stood, looking Nero in the eyes.

"I'd rather not use my sleeper again, especially in front of your son here." Nero said with a cold stare. The man hesitated but reluctantly stepped back.

"Thank you. Now kids, can you come with me?" He looked at the four. Otto watched as Call's dad tensed. This guy really was protective.

"Don't worry. I only want to talk to them."

* * *

Call was wary of the man, but he didn't feel threatened, despite the fact Alastair almost killed him. Call knew how his father was, didn't trust a thing. Call, on the other hand, was less cautious.

The four followed the man to one of the rooms. He stood by the door, "I know everything may seem tense at the moment but know that we only want you four safe."

"Yea yea we heard that from the crazy lady." Jasper said.

"Which one?" Tamara looked at Jasper.

"The Russian."

"Ah."

"Well, we mean it." The man walked over to the table in the room and sat down, "My name is Dr. Nero. You four can just call me Nero."

"I'm Aar-"

"Aaron Stewart. I know your names. All except Callum's father. No one gave me his name."

"My dad? Oh, his name’s Alastair. Also sorry about him flipping out. He's… not the most friendly guy."

"Mr. Nero, sir," Tamara stepped forward, "Why are we here?"

"I already explained. You're here for your own safety." Nero responded calmly. Nero sort of reminded Call of Master Rufus. Call frowned. Did Rufus think he was dead? His father had certainly not gotten any sort of news.

Nero went on to explain GLOVE and gave them instructions to never leave the bunker unless necessary. Call listened to every word, though he forgot most of it immediately.

* * *

"I won't ask again, what do you know about Joseph Walthers and Constantine Madden?" Raven asked, frustrated.

"I won't tell you shit!" The man snapped. This had been going on for about thirty minutes now, and Raven wasn't having any of it. She couldn't understand why, hadn’t he betrayed them? Maybe it was his connection to Constantine, he had been his friend for much of his life from what Callum told her.

"Mr. Hunt, would you rather I leave your son orphaned?" Raven threatened.

"Do whatever! I won't tell you a thing!" 

Raven grabbed one of her katanas and stabbed the man in the shoulder. He let out an agonized yell. 

"Now, will you cooperate? Or are you going to lose an arm?"

"Fine! Fine I'll tell you! But it's not what you think it is.”

* * *

Alex smirked. Ah yes, the marvels of modern technology. He had tracked Alastair’s car, which turned out to be incredibly easy with the bright silver color of it, and now all he had to do was wait for the weird plane thing Alastair had gotten kidnapped onto to land. 

He had used air magic to make himself seem invisible as he went to put a tracker on the plane-thing. He had no solid proof they had Call, but he had to start somewhere. But even if they didn’t have Call, he could probably capture Alastair and make them do a trade. Morals. He scoffed. 

Maybe tracking down that brat was easier than he expected.

* * *

Wing and Aaron were back to sparring. The kid was a fast learner, and very skilled.

Wing had gained a good amount of his trust in just a few days. Aaron had trusted Wing with a secret. Something about Callum being the reincarnation of Constantine Madden. This was a promise Wing wouldn't break, and maybe it would be easier to keep.

"You're learning fast, Stewart."

"Just call me Aaron." The boy responded before striking at Wing and knocking him down.

Wing fell with a grunt. Aaron smirked.

"Well, Aaron, seems you're getting much better at combat." He would stand back up, "I think that's enough for now."

"Mr. Fanchu? Can I ask you something?" Aaron asked as he watched Wing put the training swords up.

"Hm?" Wing turned around. “And if I’m calling you Aaron, you may as well call me Wing.”

"Why _don't_ you kill? Seems like killing is common in your line of work." Aaron asked sincerely. Wing went silent.

“It’s… something that happened a long time ago.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

Suddenly an explosion shook the grounds. Wing and Aaron ran back up outside and spotted Tamara. “What’s going on?” 

“ _He_ found us. Alex, he’s here.”


	8. Shelby ends up having so many regrets after freeing the child

_He_ was here. Call had no idea how, but he knew why. Revenge. Alex had wanted to kill both him and Aaron that night, and ended up failing. He knew Alex wouldn't stop until Call was dead.

Call was hiding in the vents. He had stacked some chairs and managed to climb up. Maybe if Alex didn't know where he was, he'd leave them alone.

"There you are!" Call heard a voice say. He looked over to see Shelby. "And Nero called me crazy for wanting to look in the vents. Come on. Raven’s got a Shroud ready."

"I'm not leaving while he's still out there! He'll kill me!" 

"Oh you'll be fine! We tend to narrowly avoid death tons."

"Is that supposed to reassure me?"

“The keyword is avoid.” she said, "Now come on. Your friends are worried about you."

* * *

Aaron ran through the halls, against Nero's orders, of course. Call and Shelby were still inside, and Aaron didn't want to leave anyone behind. 

He turned the corner and saw Shelby helping Call out of the vent. Aaron rushed over, "Come on! We have to go now!"

"Aaron?! They just let you come in here?" Call asked.

"Nah, the Nero guy told me not to go after you guys." Aaron said. “So of course that was what I needed to do!” Shelby laughed. 

"Ah, just like our group as kids. Nero couldn't keep us from anything even if he tried. Hell, he just let us break into a training facility built like a prison because he knew he couldn't stop us." she said, "I'll tell you guys about it on the way out."

The three of them went as fast as they could, though Call was slowing them down a bit with his injured leg. Shelby insisted on one of them carrying him but he refused.

"... And that's when Otto's evil clone brother was dropped off that balcony, but you see, Otto pulled an ol' switcharoo, so we didn't know it was the evil clone," Shelby said with a laugh as they ran to the door, "Wing was about to go against his anti-murder vow."

“Yeah, well-” Call gasped. “What is that?” Outside, fire raged along with spikes of earth, walls of it were burning everywhere, but a dark black smoke was slowly eating through them. A figure with a copper glove was clearly visible throughout the chaos. There was no way the Shroud would be able to take off now.

"Shit! How did he find us?!” Call shouted. “I thought you said we were supposed to be safe! We have to help Tamara!”

"Well none of us have magic,” Shelby said. “How are we supposed to help?”

“I didn't want to do this, but,” Call said hesitantly. He shoved his arms towards Shelby. “I can't let any more people get hurt because of him. You have to take these off.”

Shelby paused. “No way. What are you going to do anyway?”

“Please, you have to trust me.” 

Shelby looked at the flame and smoke then back at Call, "Fine." She got her lock picking set and got to work. “I'm taking a chance here, don't make me regret it.”

* * *

"Where are those three?!" Nero shouted. Aaron has gone out to search for Shelby and Callum without Nero's permission, and now they were stuck here. Tamara was fighting off the dark magic best she could, but Nero could tell she was getting exhausted. They had to leave _now_ , or they wouldn't be able to at all. 

“I might be able to help her, I know I'm not the best but-” Jasper said.

“No. I'm not about to let you out there,” Nero said firmly. 

“Wait, what is Callum doing?”

* * *

The fire began to fade. Call stepped forward, and planted his feet. “No one else is dying today!” He shouted. Alex turned towards him. 

"We meet once again, Hunt. You'll die just like your little friend did. Aaron, was it?" Alex sneered.

Call saw Aaron sneak up being Alex and tap his shoulder, "Surprise, bitch."

“I suppose I'll just have the pleasure of killing you twice.”

“You can try.” Aaron smirked.

Call raised his hands. It felt good to finally use magic again. He was going to have to properly thank Shelby after all this. Darkness spiraled from his palms towards Alex. “ _You can't stop me._ ” It sounded like two voices were speaking as one. He seemed to pull the darkness out of nowhere. He flicked his fingers towards himself, and dark tendrils rose up out of the ground. Aaron gasped, he had never seen either of them be able to do that before. What was going on?

Shelby looked on, in shock, but also slightly horrified. She never knew that doing that sort of thing would ever be possible. As she looked at the darkness Call seemed to summon out of nowhere, she felt fear. Without a doubt, she knew that it would destroy everything it touched.

* * *

"Hey uh, deWinter? Was your friend always able to do that?" Otto asked, worried.

"No, not that I know of." Jasper responded. Alastair was nearby, watching with a horrified look on his face. Otto looked over at the man.

"I've only seen one person do something like that…." Alastair said, "Oh god. We have to do something!"

"He seems to be doing well with this fight." Otto went back to watching. That Strike guy was getting his ass beat, "I don't think he needs any help."

"You _don't_ understand! That's not Call, that's Constantine.”

* * *

Alex snarled. He used his invisibility spell and snuck up behind Call. The brat was looking around, frantically.

" _I know you're there Strike! Come out and face me!_ " He shouted. Alex was slightly confused. What had happened to his voice?

That didn't matter. He was so close to finally ending this once and for all. When he killed Call, he could finally get justice for Drew, and then, he could become the new Enemy. Joseph would finally see his true potential.

He raised his hand, "Goodbye, Callum." As the Alkahest fired, Alex felt something slam him down. The blast narrowly missed Call. Alex shrieked, not in frustration, but in pain. His whole arm felt like it was burning, and the glowing heat of the Alkahest combined with the blast of fire seemed to send fire into his veins. He looked up to see Tamara standing over him. 

"Nice…. Nice try." She managed to say before collapsing.

Alex tried to pry the Alkahest off his arm, but it seemed to have fused to him, and the rest of his arm, and some of his face had been burnt horribly. “God dammit!”

" _There you are._ " Alex heard the chilling voice say. He had to retreat.

He scrambled to his feet and ran. Call wouldn't be able to catch up with that fucked up leg.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared.

That wasn't Callum, that was something, or someone, else.

* * *

Call felt powerful. Unstoppable. He watched as Alex ran away like a coward. He reached out his hand to strike him down before a sharp pain erupted in his head.

He looked around. Tamara was unconscious nearby. Shelby was staring at him with a horrified expression, holding the cuffs loosely. Call started to realize what had happened before he blacked out.


	9. Stop Giving Your Kids Trauma Anastasia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A whole chapter of angst for Anastasia’s kids.

_ He stood over the dying woman, a hand over the stab wound she gave him. He wasn't going to last long and had to make a decision. _

_ Everyone else was dead except for the women, her brother, and the small infant she held in her arms. All horrible choices. They wouldn't last long. But, he had a feeling. There was someone out there. Someone still alive. Someone who was coming. He looked at the child. _

Call snapped awake and gasped for breath. His hands were shackled. Alastair approached him carefully. “Call?”

" _ You! You let me kill Jericho!” _ he screamed at Alastair. “ _ I have to save him! And I'll kill you if I have to!” _

Alastair stumbled back in shock. “No…” he whispered. “I have to fix this.”

“ _ YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME! I CAN SAVE THEM! I CAN SAVE THEM ALL! LET ME OUT!” _

Alastair closed the door and leaned against it tiredly trying to ignore Call screaming at him. “I'm so sorry old friend, but I can't lose the only person I have left"

He sighed as he remembered the last time they saw each other.

* * *

_ "Con! Please, you have to come back! We can still fix this!” Alastair pleaded. _

_ "I don’t  _ **_have_ ** _ to do anything! I’m done playing the Magisterium’s games. I’m more powerful than anyone has ever been, and I can bring him back!” His eyes held a desperate sort of gleam. “Don’t you love me? You need to believe me!” _

_ Alastair steeled his resolve and said, "I loved you once, but I can’t love this monster you’ve become." By the end of it, he was blinking away tears. _

_ Constantine yanked off his wristband and shoved it towards Alastair before turning away. “I guess this is goodbye then. I won't care about you anymore. I'm done with all of this.” Constantine walked away, and didn't look back. As he walked away, Alastair could feel his heart shattering with every step he took. _

* * *

Anastasia Tarquin sat on the balcony, looking out into the field as her step son came outside. "There you are Al- dear God, what happened to you!" She exclaimed as she looked at him.

His right arm and half of his face was badly burnt. Angry red marks marred his face. The Alkahest was on his burnt arm. He looked pissed. "You needed me, mom?" He said. Anastasia frowned.

"I am  _ not _ your mother." She responded. He winced. "Now, what the hell happened to you?!"

"Hunt was insane! I had to kill h-"

"You went against orders?! You weren't even supposed to take the Alkahest!" She yelled.

Alex flinched, "Sorry, Anastasia."

"You're a waste! Thinking you can do whatever the hell you want!"

"He was getting too dangerous!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Mom you have to be-

"I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!" she screamed. Alex jumped back, looking scared. She stood, "And I'm glad I'm not your mother. You're a disgrace! Sometimes I wish that it were you that died instead of Drew,” she said coldly.

".... I thought you  _ cared _ about me. I was wrong." Alex said.

"You are. I never cared about you or your father. Now leave, and take that damn thing off."

Alex stood there for a bit, looking at the floor, "I…"

"What is it now!"

"I can't… I tried to take it off but I can't." He squeaked.

"... Get out of my sight."

"I didn't succeed." Alex said as he went to leave, "he's still alive."

The door slammed shut.

* * *

Alex sat in the corner of his room, curled up in a ball. His arm and face hurt so much, but he doubted Anastasia would give him anything to help.

He attempted to take the Alkahest off once again. He yelped in pain.

He gave up and just laid there on the floor. He didn't move when he heard Master Joseph enter.

"Anastasia told me you returned. You're foolish, you know that right?"

"That's what I've been told." Alex muttered.

Joseph grabbed the Alkahest and attempted to rip it off. Alex screamed in agony. The Alkahest was fused into his arm, plus, the burns were still bad. "Stop! Stop please! PLEASE!"

Joseph kept trying. Soon, Alex wrenched his arm free and slashed at Joseph's face, leaving four scratches, one of them going over and blinding his left eye.

Joseph stumbled back, covering his face, "You motherfucker!" He raised the staff he always held and hit Alex on the side of the head, clearly aiming for the burns.

The boy shrieked in pain as he fell.

Joseph stormed out of the room, slamming the door. Alex curled back into a ball, trying to hold back the tears.

Joseph walked past Anastasia, still covering the bloody scratches Alex gave him.

"Joseph?! What the hell happened?"

"That stepson of yours is what happened!" Joseph shouted, "I was trying to take the Alkahest back and he tried to kill me!"

"From what he told me it's fused into his arm. It can't be removed."

Joseph frowned. How was that possible? He just sighed and walked away.

Ever since Drew died Alex has been aggressive, wanting nothing but revenge. Joseph understood Alex's anger, but it still messed up a lot of their plans. Failure was unacceptable, and Alex was a liability that needed to be disposed of. The only way to do that was to kill him.

Joseph didn't like that. Alex was like a son to him, but now he was becoming dangerous. He sighed, this was like Drew all over again.

* * *

Alex had been laying on the floor since Joseph left, listening. His injuries hurt like hell, but he was scared of asking for help. He already ticked off the two adults he trusted. Well, he  _ had _ trusted them. He didn’t know  _ what _ to think now.

He heard the door open and saw Anastasia enter. 

"You still haven't gotten those burns looked at?"

Alex stayed silent.

"I heard you attacked Joseph. I don't blame you. That arm looks bad." She walked to him.

"It'll heal." 

"God you look worse than the Enemy. Get up, I know some good healers."

"What happened to you not caring about me?"

"I didn't really mean any of that. I was just frustrated. You know that, right?" She knelt down, "Come now. Maybe we can get that thing off your arm."

"I don't want it off." He said as he sat up, "I feel safer with it."

"Alright. You can keep it. Just no scratching people again." Anastasia said with a smile. Alex felt uneasy.

Though, he soon stood and followed Anastasia. They arrived into a room he had never seen before. It was empty. Alex looked around, confused. He looked at Anastasia, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Alex," she said, not looking at him, "but you've been nothing but a liability."

The realization came to him quickly. They were going to kill him.

He had to leave.

To finish what he started. 

He bolted to the door, using air magic to push Anastasia back, and blocked the door with chaos magic.

He wasn't going to die while Drew's murderer was out there, alive.

* * *

Aaron watched as Alastair came back into the room, his expression unreadable.

"Mr. Hunt?" Aaron approached, worried, "Is he ok?"

"... I'm afraid not" Alastair responded, "but, I have hope. He'll be back. I know it."

Raven was leaning against the wall nearby. She seemed irritated, "I still think getting rid of him would be the wisest choice." She said, unsheathing one of her katanas, "He's dangerous."

"Now Natalya," Nero said as he walked over, "We can't just kill a child."

“What if he decides to break out and kill us?”

“No way! I don't even like Call that much but we're not  _ killing  _ him!” Jasper argued. As it went on, they started shouting at each other. Throughout all the chaos, no one even noticed Aaron quietly slipping out.

* * *

_ He could see her. Verity Torres. She was atop her air elemental and she had a mask of confidence plastered on, but he could see her underlying fear. He sneered in disgust. Now that he was gone, the Magisterium had somehow found another pawn for them, but she had to die. When she died, he could bring her back again, to show them, to show all of them that he had conquered death. He raised his arms and- _

* * *

Jericho. He was dead. 

He was curled up in the corner, lost in thought. He had to figure something out. He had to find a way to bring his brother back. Why was he here? Where was here? Then the door opened and a sliver of light shone in. 

He looked up to see Jericho. But how? He's supposed to be dead. 

" _ Call? _ "

"Who?! Who's Ca- wait… Jericho!?" Constantine sat up and stared at his brother. How was this possible?

" _ Call it's me, Aaron. Come on. You have to stop this. _ " What was Jericho saying? 

"Jericho, brother, I'm so sorry. I'll fix this! All of this!" He went and approached his brother, "I can save you!"

Jericho frowned, " _ What happened to you? _ " He grabbed Constantine by the shoulders, " _ Call, snap out of it! _ "

How the hell was Jericho touching him? What was happening? Did Jericho live?!

"Stop calling me that! I don't know who Call is! It's not my name! Stop it!"

" _ Please try to remember us! Me, Tamara, Jasper, your father! _ " Something was oddly familiar about those names.

He then heard another voice, "Get out of here, Stewart!"

" _ No! Raven, leave him alone! He's still in there! _ " Jericho yelled and leapt at the strange woman who entered.  _ “He can still be saved!” _

Constantine watched as he fell to the ground, yelling in pain.

"JERICHO!" He yelled. For some reason it felt unnatural saying that name. It wasn't right.

No. No that wasn't Jericho.

And  _ he  _ wasn't Constantine.

* * *

Alex ran. He didn't know where. He just ran. He had to get away from them. He had to kill Callum. He was so close. 

After almost an hour, he finally decided to rest. He outran them by now. He steadied himself against a tree, groaning. His burns were unbearable. He had to try and treat them soon. As he stumbled to a stop, he could see lights in the distance. Maybe someone was coming for him. He leaned tiredly against a tree, and blacked out. 

It was hours before anyone found him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, my finger slipped. Did you enjoy that?


	10. Raven is Mad, Aaron is a Sneaky Boi, Raven Kicks a Child Off a Plane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's what it says in the chapter name. In that order.

Alex blinked his eyes open, he didn’t even realize that he had fallen asleep. He looked around the unfamiliar room. No one else was in there. He noticed bandages wrapped around the skin on his arm and around his neck.

He carefully sat up, trying to figure out where he was. That's when the door opened and an older woman walked in. She looked at him in surprise and he quickly shoved the arm with the Alkahest on it behind his back.

"Ah! You're awake. I was starting to think you were dead," she said. Alex recognized her.

"You're Alma, right? From when you helped to free the Chaos-ridden with," he suddenly stopped. “You can’t tell Anastasia I’m here!” 

"Why not? Isn’t she your stepmother?"

"She wants to kill me!” Alex ignored the other question. That particular memory still hurt. 

Alma blinked. There was something _wrong_ with that family. She poked at his arm. “Isn’t that the Alkahest? How did you get your hands on that? Excuse the pun.” 

“Uh,” Alex’s mind blanked as he tried to come up with an excuse. “It uh… I-”

Alma sighed. “Well, nevermind that. Now that we’ve got our hands on it, we can study it.”

“The thing is, it’s sort of fused to my arm.”

“Well, then, would you stay?”

Alex sighed. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to go now.”

* * *

Nero paced around his office in a nervous anticipation. He had just called Raven up to his office. He wasn't sure about how she would react to what he was about to reveal, and that bothered him. A quiet knock jolted him out of his thoughts. “Come in.”

“You wanted to see me?” Raven inquired. “Is this about the Makar boy?”

“No, it's about the attack,” he sighed. “I know who was behind it, and I didn't want to hurt you by telling you, but it seems that it would be inevitable. It would be better if you heard it from me.”

“Why? What's wrong?”

Nero turned away and sighed deeply. “It’s Anastasia. She's behind this.”

Raven was furious. She wasn't angry a lot, but this time she could feel her rage boiling through her. Why couldn’t Nero trust her enough to tell her? She whirled around and sliced off the head of a training dummy, imagining that it was Anastasia. The now decapitated head rolled to a stop at Aaron’s feet where he stood in the doorway. He nervously glanced up from the head to her. “Are you…” he paused, “okay?” He seemed wary of her. She did accidentally stab him when she went to take care of Hunt. The wound didn't seem to bother him much, though.

"What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Malpense said we could explore as long as we didn't do anything stupid."

“I’m going. If you want to continue not being stupid, then don’t follow me. And another rule, you can’t let anyone else see you.” With that, she stalked off in the direction of the hangar. Aaron blinked. 

“Oh no.”

* * *

Call, Jasper, Tamara, and Havoc hadn't left the room they were put in. Aaron had left to go explore, with permission from Otto. Call had a feeling that the crazy British guy didn't have the right to give strange kids permission to explore.

Call watched as Jasper paced. The other boy had been anxious since they arrived. "We're definitely mixed up in some crazy stuff. A volcano. A fucking _volcano_ ! _Who_ builds a school in a _volcano_?!"

"Our school was in a literal mountain. Same thing, ones just less deadly." Call said with a smirk. Jasper rolled his eyes. 

“Actually, we were _below_ the mountain. And look what _happened_!”

He then looked at Tamara, who was laying on the bed nearby. She'd been unconscious the whole time. Call looked at her as well, "She really went all out, huh?"

"That's Tamara for you." Jasper leaned against the wall. “I wonder what Aaron’s doing. He's probably having more fun than we are.”

The boys and the large wolf jumped when they saw the door open. Standing there was Dr. Nero. Call found him intimidating, but that was probably the point. Maybe he practiced his intimidating look in the mirror every morning. He smirked a little to himself.

"Has Raven come here by any chance? I can't find her." he asked. The boys shook their heads. Nero raised an eyebrow, "Weren't there four of you?"

"That white haired guy said we could go explore." Call said, "Aaron was the only one who listened."

Nero sighed, "Dammit Malpense. Over ten years and he's still looking for trouble. I'll let you know if I find your friend. If Otto comes by, tell him to come see me." 

Wing walked over to Nero, " I think I know where Raven went."

"Well?"

"Let’s just say a Shroud took off."

"Dammit," Nero groaned, "the tall blonde kid disappeared as well. Oh lord, don't tell me…"

"I doubt he snuck on with her." Jasper said, "she'd notice him."

Wing scoffed, "hey, it's hard but it's possible. Trust me."

"How are you still alive?"

He shrugged. "Beats me."

"Could you possibly, for _once_ in your life, take this seriously?!" Nero snapped, "Raven’s going on some sort of revenge mission and a random kid possibly snuck on the Shroud with her! And we have no clue where she could be going!" Nero looked about ready to tear out his hair.

Call slowly stood, "I know Aaron better than anyone here and I wouldn't say possibly. He may be the responsible one but he's not the brightest. He probably didn't care about the danger. He was probably worried" Call was scared now. Aaron was basically dead again if he actually snuck on.

"Well, we may have to go after them." Nero looked at Wing, "Get the other three. When you find Otto tell him to see me in the hangar immediately. I need to have a word with him."

"Lemme guess. He's in trouble?'

"This _is_ Otto, what do you think?"

"It's not _my_ fault he did something stupid when I told him not to!" Otto yelled.

"It is very much your fault Otto. You're lucky you're important to this mission." Nero pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked over at the two boys and the large wolf with them. The girl had been brought along as well. Nero wanted to keep a close eye on her. She was certainly powerful. He then looked back at Otto, "You're also lucky he apparently lost his magic. We don't need another mage running around."

"You act as if they're worse than us."

" _They_ have magic. You four were just crazy and disob-"

"Sir, sorry to interrupt but," Call spoke up, cutting Nero off, "why are we _all_ going? Tamara still hasn't woken up."

"I figured it would be foolish to leave you here," Nero said. He saw some of Francisco's men bringing Alastair down into the hangar. Nero wanted to keep an eye on him as well, "Besides, you four can be of use just in case we run into Anastasia."

Nero noticed Call tense. He frowned. Did this boy know who Anastasia was?

"Anastasia Tarquin?"

Nero let out a relived sigh, "No. We don't know a Tarquin. Now let's go."

Nero had no idea about the truth.

He didn't know that Call _was_ talking about Furan.

He didn't know _she_ went undercover. Waiting.

* * *

 _Goddamnit you idiot why did you do this._ Aaron thought to himself. He was hiding behind a cargo box in the Shroud Raven took off in. She told him not to follow but he did anyway. He was so dead. Again.

Maybe she wouldn't notice him and he can hide until someone came to look for them. That's when he heard Raven come down into the cargo area. Aaron tensed. He hoped he wouldn't be caught.

He suddenly felt a hand grab him by the arm and was dragged out. He looked up to see Raven glaring at him, a look of anger in her eyes, "I thought I told you _not_ to follow me, Stewart." She snapped, "Seems you don't listen well. I pity your authorities."

"I'm sorry I was just-"

"Save the excuses. When we land you're staying here, even if you have to lose a limb. Got it?" She said, her grip tightening around his arm. He gave a quick nod, "Good. Buckle up." She demanded, "And don't try anything funny with that knife of yours." She added.

 _At least she didn’t murder me_ , Aaron thought. _It would have been funny if I died twice though._

* * *

Otto slapped down a card triumphantly into the pile. “Uno.” 

“I don't know how it’s possible, but I can hear your smirk,” Laura commented from the other side of the shroud.

Alastair snapped his fingers and suddenly a whole pile of cards materialized in his hands. “Are you sure?”

"What the hell?! That's cheating!"

"No rules about not using magic."

"Now I see why Callum is such a smartass. And that was _implied!_ ”

Nero looked up from his blackbox, "Can you two _please_ actually focus on this mission?"

"Oh come on," Call said, "I _never_ get to see my dad be social." He chuckled. Nero rolled his eyes and went back to looking at the device.

"HIVEmind, any sign of a rogue Shroud?"

“Raven has turned off the tracker. However I currently do not detect any abnormalities.”

Nero sighed. He knew this would be difficult, "Has any of the staff found the boy?"

"No. There is no sign of him on the security cameras either."

Call tapped his fingers nervously. “Are you sure?”

"I am very sure, Mr. Hunt. This is what I was designed to do. However, I am sure Mr. Stewart is unharmed. Raven is never one to harm a child."

"Didn't she stab him while trying to kill Call?" Jasper asked.

"I suppose that is true." The AI responded.

"Goddamnit can you go _one_ minute _without_ cheating!" Otto shouted as he threw the cards at Alastair.

“You’re supposedly a genius. Figure it out.” 

Jasper snickered. “It’s not like you’re winning anything.”

“Well no, but they definitely would lose their pride,” Laura said with a grin.

"Oh Otto and his pride. That's about all he has." Shelby teased. “That man is supposed to be a genius, but look at how he dresses.”

“I’d like to say I look perfectly dignified!” He said indignantly.

Jasper burst into laughter. 

“Hey, you have no room to talk, Jasper, you’re the one with hair like an anime character,” Call said.

“And what about his white hair?!” Jasper yelled.

"He does have a point." Shelby added. "Though I've seen those ash blond roots.”

"Oh shut up Shel! There are no ash blond roots!"

Nero groaned and walked up to the flight deck. This was hopeless.

* * *

Raven was on the flight deck of her shroud. The tracker was off, meaning not even HIVEmind could find her. 

She went down to the cargo area and looked at Aaron, who had stayed strapped in the entire time. "We're almost to Virginia. I'll drop you off near your school, got it?"

"Yes ma'am." He said snarkily with a salute.

"Could you _please_ stop saluting when I give instructions! It's getting annoying."

"Annoying is what me and my friends specialize in." 

Raven shook her head and walked away. This group was just like Otto and his friends when they were younger. She climbed back into the cargo bay.

That's when she started to feel uneasy. Something wasn't right, and her years at GLOVE and the Glasshouse had taught her to always trust her gut.

Suddenly, an alarm blared in the cockpit. The engines were offline. She cursed in Russian quite colourfully and grabbed two parachutes. They didn't have long before the Shroud crashed and they were nothing but a red smear across the ground. Something always had to go wrong didn't it? She ran into the cargo bay to see Aaron panicking and rolled her eyes internally. She tossed one of the parachutes at him and shoved a helmet on his head. 

“Uh, what's happening?” He asked, confused. 

“No time to explain, but we need to get out of this plane as soon as possible.” She said as she buckled on her own harness.

“Are we jumping out?! Out of a perfectly good plane?" He asked incredulously.

"Calm down, you have a parachute. Now come on unless you want to die again."

“I think I'm good-” he started to say before Raven kicked him out of the plane. She definitely took a little pleasure in that. She dropped out of the Shroud after him. 

She looked down at him. The boy was flailing around as if he would suddenly start flying. She smirked a little to herself. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could spot the Shroud nosediving towards the ground. When they hit the ground, the Shroud exploded not too far off. _Thank God we weren't on it_ , Raven thought before the shockwave from the explosion knocked them out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohohoho! We're getting to the good part now!


	11. Chapter Eleven, ’Nuff Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My poor poor cinnamon roll Aaron. Why do I do this to you?

Gwenda sighed as she sat on the ground. Her apprentice group had felt rather empty now that Jasper was gone. She knew that she had complained about him before, but she hadn't really wanted him to be gone. Celia was always angry now too. 

She spread out her hands above the ground, and focused on pulling the water droplets out of the earth. She breathed.

_In… and out._

Gwenda cracked open an eye and saw that Rafe wasn't doing much better next to her. Instead, he was making a little dirt sculpture. Gwenda snickered and added a particularly shiny red stone to the top. 

“Focus, apprentices. Especially you Rafe. Even though that is a nice sculpture,” Master Milagros called out. Her eyes were still closed. How had she _done_ that? 

Gwenda sighed and closed her eyes again. Her thoughts drifted back to the Panopticon breakout. Every apprentice had heard about it, and rumor was that Tamara, Jasper and Aaron were somehow involved. There was definitely something fishy going on, but the Masters had refused to tell them anything else. She wondered where they were now. They hadn't been seen for quite some time.

Suddenly the sound of an explosion rocked the clearing. The acrid scent of smoke filled the air, and she could see the flames in the distance. Master Milagros shot up. “Let's go. Someone might need help.”

* * *

"Doctor Nero, I have picked up a signal." Call heard the friendly AI say. "There has been a large aircraft crash nearby."

"A Shroud?" Nero asked, panic bleeding into his normally composed voice.

"I am afraid so."

"The one Aaron's on?" Call stood, "That one?! Oh my God, is he okay? He _has_ to be fine, this can't-" He rambled as he ran his hands through his hair nervously. “He’s already died once, I can't lose him again.”

"Unfortunately so. But I am sure Raven got him out of the blast."

Otto walked over, "Ah, this sort of reminds me of the Tokyo incident. Trust me, if the thing blew up, Raven definitely acted quickly. I'm sure your friend is fine."

Wing raised an eyebrow. "Tokyo incident? Are you talking about one of our missions or when everyone thought I was dead?"

Nero looked over at Wing, "Don't get off track. We have to go there and see what happened, they may need help." Nero climbed up to the flight deck. Call watched as Otto followed him, the others getting Call and his friends secure. Tamara still hadn't woken up, but Laura assured him she would be okay. He hoped so.

He felt Alastair grab his hand, "It'll be fine. Your friend seems like a tough guy. And as scary as she is, that assassin probably saved him."

"I really hope you're right, Dad."

* * *

_He was running. A faceless shadow chased after him, screaming at him. Dark branches tore at his arms, and the fierce wind made his eyes sting. He skidded to a halt in front of a cliff overlooking an endless abyss. The shadow’s blank face morphed into Drew’s. Alex fell back in shock. “You killed me.”_

_“No! I didn't! I'm trying to avenge you!”_

_“You could've_ saved _me, you could've been there for me.” Drew’s face twisted into a sneer. “But you didn't.”_

_More shadows rose out of the abyss. Anastasia, Master Joseph, Kimiya. “We never loved you. You're a disappointment, and you failed. You failed us all.”_

_“Stop! Shut up!” he tried to block out their words. “That's not true! And you're not real!”_

_Then a figure in a hauntingly familiar mask and cloak stepped forward. “But you will never be able to me. You'll never be the Enemy of Death.” Cold hands rose out of the ground and started pulling him into the earth._

Alex started awake, gasping for breath. _It wasn't real,_ he told himself. The dream, or rather, nightmare was a familiar one.

Then he heard an explosion off in the distance. He took in a sharp breath and stiffened. Was Anastasia here to find him? He hoped not. But how would she know where he was? Unless… Alma. Alex quickly brushed that thought away.

He slowly stood up. He _was_ curious about that explosion though. Maybe he could go check it out quick? He was just about to climb out the window when the door opened and Alma stepped inside.

“Where are you going?” she asked not unkindly. Alex paused. He could kill her right now, just snap her neck and be done with it. It would be easier, yes, but would it be right? Would she become another one of those faces that haunted his dreams? 

He thought about Drew. What would he do? Alex might not have been able to save Drew, but he didn't need to kill Alma. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve to die.

He smiled charmingly. “Oh, nowhere. I was just getting some fresh air.” His answer seemed to satisfy her and she clicked the door closed softly. Alex sighed in relief and quietly slipped out the window.

* * *

The Shroud set down gently in the forest. The windowlessness of the Shroud had prevented them from seeing what was there, but as soon as they stepped outside they were met with a shock.

A huge flaming crater with the remains of the aircraft lay before them. Mangled wreaks of metal lay among the flaming ruins, and what used to be the Shroud was near unrecognizable.

“My god,” Otto muttered at the sight of the destruction before him. “No one could’ve survived that.”

Call whirled back on him. “Don’t _say_ that!” he screamed. “He has to be alive! He _has_ to be!”

Otto looked at Call, "It would be a miracle if he survived."

"We _have_ to look!" Call said desperately, "We can't just give up!" He tried to run over to the remains of the plane, but Alastair grabbed him by the arm. 

“You can't, it's too dangerous.”

Otto looked over at Nero, who just stared at the flaming wreckage with a look that was a mix of pain and disbelief. "Natalya…."

"I'm sure she got out with the kid. Remember, this _is_ Raven we're talking about."

"Call?! Jasper?!" A voice shouted. Otto turned around to see a young black girl, around the same age as the younger four, running towards them. "You guys are alive?! Where's Aaron and Tamara?" She asked as she walked over. Otto saw more people enter the clearing. A bunch of kids and one adult with pink-streaked hair. For a moment, he almost mistook her for Penny. Then he quickly brushed the unwanted thought away.

"Heya Gwenda! Tamara's knocked out in that plane and Aaron's either charcoal or somehow escaped the crash," Jasper said. Call’s eyes flickered to a pure black and a darkness started to spread from his fingers.

"DON'T SAY THAT! HE'S ALIVE! I CAN FEEL IT!"

Master Milagros gasped at the use of his chaos magic. “Constantine…” she whispered under her breath. 

"Long time no see Call." Gwenda smiled at him awkwardly. Call looked at the other group and the darkness slowly faded away. A blonde girl marched over angrily to Gwenda.

"Stay away from him Gwenda! He's dangerous!"

"He hasn't hurt anyone, Celia. I know he's supposed to be the Enemy, but he's not _evil_!” 

Celia looked even more mad. “He just threatened Jasper!” she yelled.

Otto sighed and walked away, leaving the kids to argue. He went over to Wing and Shelby. The two were already pushing some debris aside, "I don't have a lot of hope. This crash looks bad. I wonder what happened."

"It does look really bad. But then again, Raven’s survived a whole lot of impossible situations, and she definitely wouldn't leave the kid behind,” Shelby said. Wing looked around. Even after all these years, Otto still found it difficult to read his friend’s expression, but Otto could tell that Wing was extremely worried.

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Otto. They may not have survived."

“Maybe we can check a little farther to see if they’re there?” 

Otto decided to head back to their shroud to check on Nero and Laura. As he got closer, he saw Tamara slowly step out, rubbing her eyes. He got to the entrance and saw Alastair nearby. 

"Well, she finally woke up. We explained the situation." The older man said. 

“Hey! I think I found something!” Jasper called a distance away. Otto watched as Call immediately ran over and Laura followed. 

“Huh, parachutes. They seemed to have landed safely by the looks of it,” Laura said. 

“So where are they now?” Call asked.

* * *

Raven woke up slowly, her head still foggy. She quickly ran through what happened. She was in the Shroud, Aaron was with her, and then the Shroud… Her eyes shot open. If the Shroud crashed, then where were they now? Her eyes quickly adjusted in the dark room, lit by a single flickering bulb that dangled on a wire. She looked around and found that she was alone. Where was Aaron? She tried to get up, but found that her wrists and elbows were tied to the metal chair. 

Then the door to her cell opened and a familiar figure in white stepped in. 

“Anastasia!” she growled and lunged forward, forgetting that she was still tied to the chair in her rage. The chair lost its balance and she fell forward with a grunt. “You're supposed to be dead!”

Anastasia smiled coldly. “Why Raven, you really should know by now, but death is rarely permanent in our line of work.”

“What do you _want_ from me!” She spat out.

“I would like your loyalty, but no. I don’t _need_ anything from you. You’re just the bait in a much bigger trap.”

“Where is Aaron?”

Anastasia raised an eyebrow. “The boy? Is he important? Important to you?”

Raven bit back her response. She couldn’t let that she-devil know anything else.

Anastasia continued. “I thought I had taught you better than this, _Natalya_.”

“You don't get to call me that anymore!" Raven snapped. Anastasia looked smug, knowing she struck a nerve. “Get out!”

Anastasia moved to leave, but right before the door, she stopped. 

“If I leave now, Natalya, you won’t get to hear Nero’s secret.”

“What are you talking about?” She rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s probably just another lie. That’s all you can do anyway.”

“Nero killed your mother,” Anastasia said.

“ _What?_ ” Raven whispered in disbelief.

“He killed Elena, and now he’s going to pay for it. I’m sure you can figure out the rest yourself Natalya.” With that, Anastasia left. The door slammed shut behind her.

“No!” Raven screamed into the empty room. “You’re _lying! You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re lying_!”

She didn't get a response. She heard Anastasia talking on the other side of the door, "I don't care what you do with the boy, kill him if you wish. He is of no use to me."

Raven struggled against the rope. She wasn't giving up that easily. She wasn't going to let an innocent child die because of her revenge plans.

She was going to get them out of here.

Then she was going to find Nero.

* * *

Alex had found the location of the explosion. There was fire everywhere.

He thought he was alone until he saw something shimmer into view. He hid behind a tree and used an invisibility spell for extra measure.

One of those plane things. What did they call them? A Shroud? _That was rather fitting_ , he thought. _That’s what people are wrapped in when they’re cremated._

He saw Call step out, followed by Jasper and the white haired guy. Why were they here? It was unexpected, but convenient.

"Call! Jasper!" He heard a voice say, and saw Gwenda Mason and the rest of her apprentice group, including Master Milagros enter the clearing. _Shit_. If one of the Masters were here, then they were sure to call the others. Especially since the Enemy was here too. 

He decided to sit and wait for his opportunity. He watched as Tamara left the Shroud thing, and as Jasper ran to an object. Watched as the others followed. 

Then he noticed something. Aaron and the intimidating woman weren't there. Maybe that's why they were at this crash.

* * *

Otto was back in the Shroud, holding a blackbox, "Man, I hope they're okay. I mean, they probably are because it's Raven but still."

"I am sure Raven and Mr. Stewart escaped, Otto." HIVEmind responded.

"I suppose you're right. I just can't stop worrying about it though."

"Otto." Dr. Nero said from the entrance to the Shroud, "The wolf found something that could be tracked."

"Huh?" Otto followed Nero. He saw Jasper holding the knife Aaron had. 

"Havoc can track the scent! I've seen it in movies!" The boy said in a hopeful tone. Jasper sniggered not so discreetly in the background.

"Good id-" Otto was cut off when the wolf started barking at a random tree. He turned his head but no one was there. His fur was spiked up, as if there was a threat.

"What is it Havoc?"

Havoc started running circles around the tree, barking even louder. ”It’s probably nothing,” Shelby said. 

“Yeah well, we have been in the Shroud for hours,” Jasper commented. Then Celia turned her attention on him. His face paled.

“I can't believe it! You _actually_ went and got him out of jail! You should be punished for this! And _he_ should be _killed_!" She screamed, "he's a killer!"

"Now listen here Celia!" Tamara approached the other girl, "you leave Call alone! He is _nothing_ like Constantine and never will be!" 

Otto realized that Tamara didn't know about what happened not too long ago, and it seemed as if Call and Jasper did too, as they were looking at each other nervously.

"Oh shut up Tamara! Stop always pretending to be the bigger person! Your mommy and daddy won't see anything special in you if you protect a killer!" Celia sneered.

"This isn't about getting accepted by my parents anymore!" Tamara shrieked, flames forming in her hands. The other girl seemed to take it as a challenge. 

"Can you two _not_!" Jasper shouted, "there's way more important things to do, like figuring out where those two are. Save the fighting for later."

Tamara didn't listen. She lunged at Celia, but Nero grabbed her by the back of the shirt before she could tackle the other girl. He was holding a sleeper.

"Both of you stop _now_. I'd rather not use this on you two." He said.

"Let me go!" Tamara snarled.

From behind the tree Havoc barked at, Alex watched, invisibile. Maybe Celia could be useful to him.

* * *

Anastasia let the door swing shut behind her and turned to Joseph. 

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Perfectly. Everything is going as I said it would,” she responded smugly.

"Excellent. I expected nothing less, especially from you, Furan. What should I do with the boy?”

Anastasia waved her hand offhandedly. “I do not care, kill him if you wish. He is of no importance to me.” 

“Very well.”

* * *

The first thing Aaron noticed when he woke up was how dark it was. But that couldn't be right. If the Shroud had crashed in the forest, then where was he now? 

_I knew sneaking onto that Shroud was a stupid idea_ , he thought to himself humorlessly. He tried to get up, but realized with a jolt that he couldn’t. Metal cuffs bolted to the table restrained his movement. _I do always have the worst luck._

He was in a small room, if it could even be called that, lit by a few flickering bulbs. All sides of the room were made of concrete, and the walls were lined with shelves of various metal instruments. It reminded him rather of a science lab. His eyes shattered along the wall when a familiar looking glass container caught his eye.

It looked just like the kind that Drew had kept the chaos elemental in. A blue-tinged thing with a cracked icy shell raged inside of it. His heart began to pound, his breath coming in short bursts.

_I have to get out of here._

The door swung open suddenly and an overly bright light shined into the room. Aaron flinched away from the light and squinted his eyes at the man that walked through the doorway. Master Joseph stared at him with a detached interest. Though his face was different now than from the last time he saw him. There were horrible scars going across his face, as if he was scratched by a giant cat. Aaron hoped he wouldn't face whatever caused that injury. 

"Ah, perfect! You’re awake."

"Where the hell am I?!"

"It doesn't matter, because you're not leaving. Ever." Joseph smirked, "Anastasia wanted me to get rid of you."

"Anastasia? Tarquin? She was behind this?!"

"Oh yes. We were really only expecting the assassin, but it was a pleasant surprise seeing you tagged along." 

Aaron struggled against his restraints, "My friends will find us! I know they will! You won't get away with this!"

"So sure of your friends, but why would they try and find you? You're useless to them. Everyone loved the Makar, not _Aaron_ . And now that your power is gone, why would they ever come for you? You're of no use to the Magisterium _or_ your friends."

"That's not _true_!"

"You of all people should know that not everyone is who they seem. Alex tricked you, who's to say your friends won't?" Joseph grinned, "They'll only come for Raven, someone who's actually useful, and leave you to die here."

"SHUT UP! I KNOW THEM BETTER THAN YOU! JUST _SHUT UP_."

"You never truly know someone, Aaron."

Aaron narrowed his eyes. He was probably going to regret this later, but when had that ever stopped him? “I hope you _die_ , just like your son!” He spat at Joseph.

Joseph's smile twisted into a murderous snarl in the matter of seconds. "No! _He_ wasn't meant to die! _YOU'RE_ THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE DEAD! And I'll gladly be the one who finishes the job!"

_Oh shit._

Joseph hit the clear container with his staff and it shattered with a million glass shards. The water elemental burst out in a vortex, and the temperature of the room dropped. Aaron could see his breath in front of him and shivered violently.

“I usually wouldn't take pleasure in this, but I think I'll make an exception just this once,” Joseph sneered.

“You're _sick_.”

“Unfortunately for you.”

The frosty spirit surged forward, twisting its way up his arm. Everywhere it made contact it burned with the cold, leaving behind a sharp stabbing pain and numbness. Aaron bit back a scream, he'd give that bastard no such pleasure.

The elemental snaked its way over his neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. He gasped for air and-

He couldn't breathe. _He couldn't breathe._

There was water everywhere, it surrounded him and he could feel himself getting colder and colder, like the elemental was draining him. Little bubbles of air escaped past his blue-tinged lips as he tried to struggle against it. 

_I'm going to die here,_ he realized. _No one's coming for me._ Invisible tears leaked out of his closed eyes. It was cold, so cold. His heart beat sluggishly. This was it. He would die cold and alone, with no one coming to find him.

* * *

Raven kicked the last door in the hallway open. The boy had to be here somewhere, right?

When she stepped into the room, the first thing she noticed was an eel-like creature twisting around the young boy. He looked slack and lifeless. Her heart sank. He didn't look good. Was it too late? 

The man with gray-streaked brown hair turned to face her. _This must be Joseph_ , she thought to herself. He started to sweep the staff in a downward motion when Raven flicked the controls of her katanas to the dullest setting and hit him across the head. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Raven ran over to the barely conscious boy and checked him for a pulse. The elemental started leeching onto her hands and she quickly pulled her arms back from the burn. She had to find some way to get that _thing_ off of him first. Her eyes flicked towards the staff that Joseph had dropped.

She picked it up gingerly and prodded the icy spirit with it none too gently. The elemental shrieked, a sound that reminded her of a shifting glacier. The elemental gathered itself with sharp icicles jutting out of it and leaped at her. Raven swung the staff like a baseball bat and the elemental dissipated, its shrieks lingering in the air.

She dropped the staff and ran over to Aaron. Color seemed to be returning to him and his breathing had started to even out. She quickly sliced off the iron bonds and hauled him into a sitting position.

“Raven? You're here! I thought-” he cut himself off. “Nevermind.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I-” What he was about to say turned into a coughing fit.

“We have to go, they're going to discover I'm gone any minute,” Raven said.

Aaron slowly pushed himself up. “Okay, let’s go,” he rasped. He had barely made it a few steps before he blacked out. 

“Dammit Stewart, you are _not_ dying on my watch.” She picked him up, ignoring how cold he was and escaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe. That was a real shitstorm to write, uhhhh, don't kill us? Hopefully this was chapter eleven enough for you. We had planned more, but then we had to cur it short cause it just wouldn't fit. this was a real test of my non-existent morals


	12. Family Talk and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oooooh, character development. This is a pretty calm chapter.

It had been hours since they had discovered the crash. The other group had gone back to the Magisterium, promising not to talk about what they saw. Wing wasn’t quite sure he believed Milagros, but it was the best they could do for now, at least without resorting to any drastic measures.

Wing was still outside, scouting the area and searching for any signs of the other two, but found nothing. He hoped they had survived, that they weren't char and ash hidden under the debris. It was Raven after all; they  _ had _ to be alive.

Suddenly, his blackbox went off. He flipped it open.  _ Incoming call from Otto. _ He answered it, "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Nah, just checking in. Found anything?"

"Nope, not yet." Wing sighed, "I may go search a little further."

"Alright, but don't stay out the entire night. Callum's been driving me  _ crazy _ ."

"He's worried, it is only natural. You probably know how he feels, after the whole incident with my father." Wing chuckled.

"Oh that was a mess. Ugh, now I have  _ empathy. _ Ew. Well, continue your search. I'll check up later." Otto said before hanging up. Wing looked towards where the parachutes had been found. They had probably gone off in that direction, so that's where he went.

He knew there was a slim chance of him finding anything, but it was worth a shot.

* * *

Raven had gotten herself and Aaron far from where they were held. She knew where to go, as she could still see a bit of smoke off in the distance, as well as a large mountain. 

She had no idea whether or not going back was a good idea, but it was the only good idea she could come up with.

She turned and looked at the boy she carried on her back. Aaron had been unconscious since they left. He was freezing cold. She had to find warmth soon, or he'd freeze to death.

She soon found the wreckage, but no one was around. She sighed. It was hopeless.

Then, it looked almost as if a door opened up from nothing. A Shroud. Someone was here, hopefully someone who could help. Raven stepped out into the clearing and watched as Otto walked down the ramp, approaching Wing, who must've gone to search for her and Aaron.

Otto was the first to notice her, "Holy shit! You guys are alive!" He exclaimed as he and Wing ran over to them. He frowned when he noticed Aaron, "What happened to him?"

"Some creature almost drowned him. Hurry, get him inside. _I_ need to find Nero," she said as she carefully set Aaron down and ran into the Shroud.

* * *

Call stood up immediately when he saw Raven storm into the Shroud, "You're back! Is Aaron al-" 

She went to the flight deck before he could finish his sentence "Well damn." He muttered.

He turned around to see Wing carrying Aaron in. There was no better way to phrase it, but Aaron looked like shit. Call tapped his fingers nervously. "Is…. Is he alive?"

"He should be." Otto said, "I'll go see if there's any sleeping bags or blankets. You, fire girl, Tamara was it?"

Tamara looked over at Otto, seemingly annoyed, "What?"

"Could you possibly do some sort of, I dunno, spells or some shit?"

She stared back at him incredulously. "That's… not how our magic works. And besides, I'm better at arson, but I can try a warming spell."

Call stared at Aaron, worried. What had happened to him? Though the way he looked, he reminded Call of, well, Drew. 

Call pushed the thought away, he didn’t want to think about that. Aaron looked gray, like all the life had been sucked out of him. 

Call focused on him for a moment and he sighed in relief as he saw that the colors of Aaron’s soul were still steady. At least he was going to live. “Please wake up,” he whispered.

Otto soon returned with a puffy sleeping bag, "Here Wing, set him down on this."

Wing was quick to do so. Call and Tamara sat next to their friend. Tamara managed to summon a flame that wouldn't spread. Perks of magic. Call just sat there, staring at Aaron. He carefully reached out and took Aaron's hand. It was cold, but a comforting type of cold that was full of life.

Tamara flopped down into her sleeping bag and gazed at the night sky. “He’s going to be fine, Call,” she said. “You don't need to worry so much.”

Call sighed. “Yeah, I know, but I just can't help it.” He laid down and closed his eyes. He could almost pretend that they were back in his backyard going stargazing. Almost.

"C-Call?" He heard a voice rasp. He opened his eyes and saw Aaron looking at him, "You found us?"

"More like Raven found us. What the hell happened to you?"

"I don't remember." He scooted closer to Call, "I just remember being cold. Though it would’ve been really lame if I died twice."

“Shush. You’re not going to die, not while I’m around anyway.” Call snuggled up against Aaron. Aaron chuckled.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping you warm with my body heat, of course."

"Yeah… alright." Aaron smirked. 

Call closed his eyes, "I'm just glad you're alive."

He soon fell asleep in Aaron's embrace.

* * *

Nero was up at the flight deck, staring out the window. 

That's when he heard someone storm in. He turned around and took note of the furious expression on her normally composed face, "Natalya!?"

"YOU LIED TO ME!"

“What are you-” He blinked in confusion.

“YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHO MY MOTHER WAS! ANASTASIA TOLD ME EVERYTHING.”

Nero paled. “Anastasia?”

"You can't lie to me anymore. I  _ know _ ."

“What are you  _ talking  _ about?”

“ELENA IS MY MOTHER AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME! THAT’S THE BIG SECRET! THERE, I SAID IT.”

Nero stumbled back in shock. He never saw her this angry before, but what she said shocked him even more. Elena. 

That was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. He remembered that when Raven first began to open up to him, she had asked him if he knew who her parents were. “What?”

“Were you  _ ever _ going to tell me?” Seeing the horrified look on his face, she mistook the reason behind it and her expression hardened. “You would've never told me,” she realized.

"How could I tell you something I didn't know?!"

“You’re  _ lying! _ You  _ had _ to have known! Anastasia-”

“You're going to believe  _ Anastasia _ ?! Look at what she's done already! She  _ lies _ and manipulates people!”

“Right now, I'm not sure  _ who _ I can believe anymore.” She drew her sword. “And I'm choosing to blame you.”

* * *

Everyone else was asleep, except for Jasper and Havoc. To be honest, Jasper wasn’t quite sure why he wasn't asleep either. He had seen the three of them outside and he didn't feel like it was right to intrude, so here he was now. They probably wanted time without him anyway. Jasper stared at the ladder that led to the flight deck, and considered going up.

He could hear Raven shouting and cringed away from it. He knew it would be a stupid idea to investigate, but something told him that he should. Besides, most of their stupid ideas had turned out fine in the end anyway. He looked where his friends were. They were outside, fast asleep.

It looked like it was his turn to do something stupid for once. He looked at Havoc. The wolf stared at him, whining, "Sorry bud, but this ladder isn't wolf accessible."

He walked to the ladder and started to climb. He poked his head into the room and saw Raven holding one of her katanas out at Nero, clearly with malicious intent, "What the hell?!" He shouted. Raven whirled around, an angry look in her eye. He stepped back, holding his hands up, "whoa whoa I have  _ no  _ idea what the fuck is happening, but is murder  _ really  _ the way to go?"

Raven stared at him for a few seconds then looked back at Nero.

“What would  _ you  _ know?!”

Jasper took a small step back. “Listen, I may not know what exactly is happening, but I don't want you, or anyone to do something that they're gonna regret for the rest of their lives. I know it's not the same, but…” he hesitated for a moment then took a deep breath. He had never told anyone this before. “When I found out that my father was working for the enemy,  _ our _ enemy, I-” he looked away. “I almost burned him alive. And I've been regretting that ever since. I don't want  _ anyone _ else to make the same mistakes that I have.”

She sighed and slowly lowered her katana, though her murderous glare never left Nero. “Fine. You've made your point.” Her eyes flicked back to Jasper. “You can go now. I'm sure your friends will have missed you.”

Jasper fidgeted awkwardly. “Um, I think I might stay inside. It's warmer in here."

"Not really. If it was that cold we wouldn't have left Aaron out there." Raven said.

"I uh… I'm sure they're fine. I'm not really outdoorsy, ya know?"

Raven sighed. “If this is about me almost killing him earlier, you don't have to worry. You can go out kiddo.”

"I-I don't wanna." Jasper shifted uncomfortably, "I-I…."

Raven raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why? Is everything okay?”

”It’s  _ FINE _ !” Jasper shouted. “IT’S NOT LIKE I BELONG WITH THEM ANYWAY! THEY WON’T MISS ME!" Years of bottled up emotions finally burst out. The lights in the room all shattered in a burst of sparks, plunging the room into darkness. He fell to his knees, sobbing. He looked up and glared through his tears. “I’m  _ done. _ I'm done trying to change myself for other people. I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS FOR YOU!”

Raven stepped back.  _ Oh shit _ . She had forgotten how snappy these kids could be.  _ Oh this one definitely has issues. Lots of them. _

Nero slowly stood and cautiously walked over to Jasper. He knew how unpredictable mages could be, especially young ones. “Are you alright?” He immediately realized that was the wrong thing to say when Jasper turned his angry look into him. Fire seemed to flicker beneath his skin.

He laughed humorlessly. “Do I  _ look _ like I’m okay?” He pushed himself off the ground and went for the trapdoor. “Don't bother following. Everybody leaves eventually, one way or another.” Before he disappeared through the trapdoor, Nero thought he saw a flash of fire curl around the boy’s arms.

Nero dropped his head in his hands.  _ Why do I always have to mess everything up? _ He sighed and turned towards Raven. “Do you want to go somewhere else to talk?”

* * *

Meanwhile, below in the cargo bay, Jasper sat at the bottom of the ladder, head buried into his knees. He could hear his friends laughing together in the background.  _ Seems like they couldn't sleep,  _ he thought. It looked as if they were doing just fine without him. Jasper remembered that in their copper year on their accidental roadtrip it seemed like at every turn he either wasn't wanted or messed something up.

He didn't look up when he heard footsteps approaching. He could tell it was Tamara, as he learned to memorize footsteps. He assumed she was getting something and then going back to her friends. 

Suddenly, she grabbed his arm and he jumped a little at the contact. "C'mon you grump. You're missing out!"

He quickly swiped at his eyes with his other sleeve and turned to face her, hoping that she wouldn't notice the redness in his eyes. She dragged him to his feet and pulled him to the other two. Aaron looked like shit, but at least he looked happy. Ever since Call had gotten sent to Panopticon, Aaron had barely ever smiled. With this almost unreal calm, he could nearly pretend that things were normal. Well, as normal as things ever were for them. He heard a twig snap and he looked around. Tamara raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Nothing probably. Thought I heard something.”

“You probably just heard a squirrel, now come on!”

Tamara sat next to the other two boys. Jasper just stood there awkwardly. She rolled her eyes and pulled him down by the arm. “I’m not about to have my best friend just  _ stand _ there all night, sit!”

“I'm… your best friend?” Jasper said, sounding a bit choked up.

“Of course you are! Now come on, do you know any constellations?”

He smiled and propped himself up on his elbows. “See that one up there?” He pointed towards the sky. “That’s Andromeda, and the story behind that is…”

* * *

Raven slowly sipped from her cup of black tea. “So, Elena. You really didn’t know?”

Nero sighed sadly. “I’m afraid not. If I had known about,” he gestured vaguely, “any of this, I would’ve done more to stop it.”

Raven leaned forward. “Is Anastasia after you because of Elena? I know you don't talk about her much, but if she's my mother, I want to know.”

“While Elena and I were… together, Anastasia was away. She was in Europe, and from her letters to Elena, it was clear she was also planning to leave it all behind. That’s where it all went wrong.” He dropped his head into his hands. “I think she was planning to kill someone else, Pietor maybe, but something went wrong and Elena was killed instead. I was a fool and confronted her, and now she blames me. And now we’re here.”

Raven blinked. “Oh. Wow. That’s… really complicated.”

He sighed heavily. “You don't say.”

“So  _ is _ Elena my mother?”

“I can't say for sure. A lot of things would certainly make sense, but at this point it's only a possibility.”

Raven sighed. “Thank you. And I'm sort of glad that the answer isn't concrete. And maybe I don't need to know, I’ve already found my true family.” She smiled a rare smile. “And I would rather prefer  _ not _ to be related to Anastasia in any way.”

* * *

"Ok so, let me get this straight," Alastair said, leaning against the wall. "Anastasia Tarquin isn't actually an esteemed Assembly member who does nice things, but actually just a crazy woman who creates child assassins, and is on some crazy revenge mission?"

"That's about it, if not a little loose on the detail." Raven responded. She, Alastair, Nero, and the Four were talking quietly in a corner. Nero had decided it was best for the kids to not get too involved with this. They might have been her targets, but he still didn't want to worry them too much.

"The fact she's a part of the weird mage government is unsettling." Shelby said, "Do they not do background checks?"

"The Assembly isn't very reliable." Alastair pushed himself off the wall, "They're basically useless, but like to flaunt their position."

Otto smirked. “Sounds like about every government ever. But the fact that she’s part of this Assembly… Does that give her some sort of power? Or is it just a fancy title?”

"Unfortunately, the Assembly does have power over the mage world. I'd be surprised if she wasn't the one who provoked Constantine."

Raven nodded, "Sounds possible. Anastasia's a tricky one."

“Actually, no, that can't be right,” Alastair said, deep in thought. “Joseph was the one who…” He trailed off. “Oh no.”

Otto looked towards him curiously. “What is it?”

“Anastasia and Joseph must be working together!"

The rest of them blinked. “Who?”

Alastair sighed. “It’s… a long story. In a nutshell, he made m-” He caught himself. “Constantine kill his brother and turn into the Enemy of Death. And now Joseph needs a Makar to start up his experiments again.”

Nero looked towards where the kids were, "Well I'm glad that she never caused those four any harm."

Alastair’s expression soured. “There was that one time with the Chaos-ridden.”

"Well at least until now, with Aaron almost drowning." Otto said, "and who knows, maybe she was connected to his murder. Well, his not-murder."

"All we know is that she's in a major position of power and something needs to be done about it." Raven said.

Laura nodded, "We do, and fast. Anastasia is very manipulative. She  _ will  _ find a way to make you do what she wants."

Raven looked over at Laura. Years ago, Laura had been forced by Anastasia to betray everyone. It led to the death and kidnapping of almost the whole third year Alpha's at the time. 

Otto looked at the others, "Laura's right. Anastasia is brutal."

"We should probably get the kids back in here." Shelby suggested, "If Anastasia is nearby, we can't risk her getting to them."

Otto snorted. “Looks like you  _ do _ have a brain under all that blonde fluff.”

“Hey! Don't insult the hair!”

* * *

“Joseph!” Anastasia yelled. She exhaled in irritation. “Useless. What has he done now?” She marched down the hall and slammed the door to his lab open, not caring what he might say. Her eyes were quickly drawn to the body on the ground, and then she noticed the broken cuffs on the table.  _ He had  _ one _ task and somehow he still failed? _ She noted the steady rise and fall of his chest and snorted.  _ Weakness.  _

She inspected the broken cuffs. The edge of the break was smooth, and the lock certainly wasn't broken. She knew of only one tool that could do this. Raven’s katanas. She seethed in fury. 

She dumped a bucket of ice water over the man. “Wake up,” she hissed. Joseph immediately pushed himself up and glared at her, though the effect was dispelled by the fact that he was soaked. 

“How dare you-”

Anastasia cut him off. “If it weren't for the fact that I still have use of your skills, I would strike you down where you stood.” 

“ _ I _ am the one who runs this operation!”

She leveled her pistol at his face. He stepped back in fear. “Not anymore. You disappoint me with your abject failure. You should be grateful that you still breath.”

He glared at her hatefully. “Fine. What do you suggest we do next?”

“I am  _ so _ glad we are on the same page. Because of what you have done, the timetable has been moved up significantly. We are going to bring the fight to them. And Joseph, I suggest that you bring the army that you had promised.” Her eyes glinted coldly. “It’s time to make them pay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot! YEAH WE BROUGHT UP ELENA! Still kind of unresolved but it's heavily implied that Raven is her daughter so- Ya win some you lose some! Projecting onto Jasper? Us? *laughs nervously* and oooh how the turned turns have tabled for our antags. And yeah, Alex was that squirrel, just keeping y'all on your toes! (okay but alex as a squirrel? Hilarious)

**Author's Note:**

> Holy fucking shit. That, was awesome. I hope. Yay suspense!


End file.
